Ultimate Sonic the Hedgehog
by SoulAzul
Summary: The true blue hero tackles old and new foes alike at breath taking speeds in this all new series written by the author of A Certain Magical Punch! Join Sonic the Hedgehog and friends as he combats global and personal crisi with reimagined enemies from multiple canons in a series that has action, drama, and laughs in a combination of several Sonic canons!
1. Chapter 1

Ultimate Sonic the Hedgehog Pilot Draft 2

Desert Hill Zone, 13:25, Dr. Eggman's Not So Secret Desert Base

In metal laboratory in the shape of an evil, sunglass wearing, mustache sporting, mad, evil, scientist, hedgehog heroine Amy Rose sighed.

"How did we end up like this?"

Next to her is close friend Miles "Tails" Prower, a twin tailed fox, tied together with an energy grapple.

"Just one big stupid mistake after another," he said with a hint of regret and self-derision.

The Freedom Fighters, world renowned heroes against tyranny and destruction, were suspended several meters in the air by indigo energy grapples that connected to metal cylinders connected to the ceilings. They were grouped in three groups of threes.

A few feet away from them is their friend Big the Cat, a 6-foot striped purple feline with a penchant for fishing, replied in a what sounded like a sleepy voice.

"That's hurtful."

"Sorry…I didn't mean it like that."

"Then how did you mean it?" asked Amy with a critical look that wasn't serious.

"I…" Tails began to explain himself but realized it may have been a lost cause. He looked away, closed his eyes, and sighed instead.

Tied next to Amy, the Freedom Fighters leader Sally Acorn chimed in.

"Now, now you three," she says fulfilling her role as team mom. "Don't be so hard on yourselves. Nobody's perfect. This could have happened to anybody."

From the other side of the room in a similar predicament, Rotor Walrus spoke.

"Yeah, but to be fair, not many people can say they ended up in the highly militarized strong hold of an international terrorist who _also_ happens to be their mortal enemy."

On his left, Bunnie Rabbot (pronounced "Ra-boh" for some reason, I kid you not) added in her piece. She was positioned awkwardly underneath Rotor's armpit, which obscured the left side of her body.

"Ah mean some might. Sounds like the beginning of some joke."

On the opposite side, coyote Antoine D'Coolette provided his commentary.

"Es not a very funny joke."

Like all purely evil villains, the host interrupted their conversation with little empathy. A (fat) man sized UFO carrier drew in closer as Dr. Eggman added his slice.

"I respectfully disagree!"

The egotistical and hammy voice floated towards the Freedom Fighters in his signature Egg shaped flying mobile. We'll call it the Eggmobile for simplicity's sake, and because that's what they call it on the Sonic Wiki so it's got to be legit. Anyway, the balding toothy grin of the mad scientist joyously showed itself to his captured foes.

"I find it to be positively hilarious! Now, stop me if you've heard this one. A group of eco-friendly furry freaks gets a lead on that their intellectually superior and dashingly handsome nemesis has concocted another brilliant scheme…"

"Ah haven't heard it but Ah'd like to stop you anyway."

"Silence! Now, where was I? Oh, that's right." He floated towards Bunnie to complete the mocking phase of his malevolent scheme. "Eight Freedom Fighters and their pet walk into a weaponized base. The self-proclaimed heroes were acting on information that they thought would bring them one stop closer towards their goal of world peace, group hugs, and kumbayas. But little did they know, the source of their tip was none other than _I,_ the brilliant and lusciously curvaceous Dr. Eggman! Who is always one step ahead of the competition."

Amy rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. Just blow my brains out already."

Tails spat out his words with belligerent derision.

"We _knew_ it was you. The sender of the e-mail said "Totally _not_ Dr. Eggman.""

Dr. Eggman turned around to look at his two foot sized robots, Orbot and Cubot, with a scowl of annoyance.

"Yes, thank you for that Cubot," he said sarcastically.

"Just fulfilling my function," replied Cubot modestly with a thumbs-up.

Orbot placed a palm on his face and sighed.

"That was clearly sarcasm," he said.

"Well you don't have to be so sarcastic about it."

Orbot placed a palm on his face and sighed.

Tails turned his head to his left as far as he could to face Sally.

"I told you to ignore those emails from those, quote unquote, "foreign princes."

"…Okay, I _might_ have dropped the ball on that one. But I am a princess. It is my duty to consider the needs of my fellow future leaders of tomorrow."

Orbot then jumped into their conversation with no malice whatsoever. He raised an index finger like an NPC that detailed vital information.

"That's why you always designate certain types of mail as spam."

"Yeah," added Cubot. "And don't forget to delete the unimportant. Email can pile up almost as fast as -"

"Hey!" Dr. Eggman shouted. "Stop giving my mortal enemies helpful advice! Geez, can' an evil genius gloat with his hyperbolic and witty humor in his own inconspicuously face shaped lair without being interrupted?!"

"Your joke bites," spat out Bunnie with a bitter look.

"You tell 'em sister!" chimed in Amy.

" _He_ bites," said Tails with an equally bitter look.

"He's certainly no Comedy Chimp," added Sally. "And that's a pretty low bar."

"Don't you mean a _monkey_ bar?" said Antoine with the second smuggest look ever.

The Freedom Fighters roared with laughter.

A voice protruded from a rectangular device incased in a jar in the center of the lab. It belonged to Nicole, an A.I who has taken the form of a lynx to use as her avatar.

"He _bytes_ more than I can process," Nicole shamelessly added."

The Freedom Fighter laughter erupted even louder.

Dr. Eggman stared at the unruly anthropomorphic that for some reason lacked the concept of respect.

"Thank you," he said calmly. "You're too kind."

" _I_ thought it was funny," said Orbot.

"Meh," replied Cubot. "6/10. Too much water."

Dr. Eggman looked at Cubot like he was about to smack him.

After the laughter died out, tiny, timid rabbit tied next to Big spoke. Tied at her hip was her indigo, ice cream pet Chao Cheese.

"W-what are you going to do to us?" nervously asked Cream the Rabbit.

Dr. Eggman quickly floated over to the 6-year old, who was startled by his sudden enthusiasm.

"I'm glad you asked!" he said with a creepy, toothy grin.

Meanwhile, several dozens of miles away from the base and several dozens of miles above the ground, a red bi plane quickly cut across the sky at breath taking speed. From the passenger seat, an almost 4-foot red echidna sat with his legs on the front of his seat and his hands behind his back. He looked down at the scene over the side of his seat.

A slightly shorter blue hedgehog replied from the driver's seat.

"Really? What tipped you off?"

"…It's shape like his face?"

"That was sarcasm."

" _You're_ sarcasm!"

"Anyway, this looks like a good drop off point. Putting the Tornado on auto-pilot. Why don't we make a house call to the doctor this time?"

" _Now_ you're talking my language!"

"English?"

"Is that more of your "sarcasm?""

"No."

"Grr…"

Afterwards, the two fire forged friends jumped out of the plane and plummeted into a multistory free fall.

Back inside the base, Dr. Eggman floated towards the center of his base and continued his villainous speech.

"You see, there's no doubt that blue menace is going to find his way here one way or another."

Tails faux coughed.

"Faceshappedbase."

He faux coughed yet again.

"But little does he know…I've concocted a surefire plan poised to defeat him!"

"That's like…the fifth time I've heard you say those exact words. Noticing a trend here?"

Amy adds on to that.

"And it'll be like the thousandth time he won't commit to it. Noticing a trend here Eggman?" she said in a mocking tone of voice.

"Egad! Were you people raised in a barn or something?! How do you fair in conversations with each other?!"

"You'd know if you had friends."

"Mon _Deu_ ," Antoine said with a dire look on his face.

"Oof!" said Rotor as he closed an eye and crumpled his face.

"Yikes," said Sally with a mocking smile.

"Amy!" Cream replied in her soprano voice. "That's too mean!"

"He had a family!" cried Bunnie sarcastically. "…Ah think…?"

Tails stared at Bunnie from a distance.

"Too far."

Back outside, a fleet of Eggpawns and Eggfighters flew into the air and exploded with little gaps in between. The red and blue duo skidded to a stop at the metal teeth shaped door with Dr. Eggman's, a crude depiction of his face symbol on it.

The confident blue hedgehog spoke first.

"Get the door."

" _You_ get the door."

"Let's _both_ get the door."

"Wanna hold hands too?"

"Not in front of the kids."

"…Tell me that's more of your "sarcasm.""

"Shut up and punch. On three. One, two…"

Inside the base, fumes were emitted from the shiny scalp of Dr. Eggman.

"ANYWAY! I've built my ultimate death machine, and before you interrupt me again, _no_ it's not a refurbished version of the Egg Robo! Not to mention, I've got a secret power source that will surely blow your minds! And with you Freedom Fighters incapacitated, even if he comes busting through that door right now, there's nothing any of you could do once I ground him to paste!"

"Is the secret power source Chaos Emeralds?" asked Tails.

"No…"

"Is it _one_ Chaos Emerald?" asked Amy as if she were on a game show.

"What? No!"

"Is it another wood land critter?" asked Bunnie. She tried to turn to Antoine. "Why does he do that?"

"You are asking ze wrong person mon cheri," he replied.

Sally sighed.

"Why does he do anything he does?" she asked not expecting an answer.

"Look," Eggman said to regain control of the situation. "Regardless of what it may or may not be, with you Freedom Fighters incapacitated, even if he comes busting through that door right now, there's nothing any of you could do once I ground him to paste!"

As if on cue of plot convenience, the metallic entrance made a loud noise. The doors flew past the Eggmobile which sent it spinning rapidly. Dust covered the former entrance but seconds later, the perpetrators were revealed.

A red echidna stood with his spiked fist extended while a blue hedgehog slowly stood up from a crouching position.

"Knock, knock. It's Knuckles."

" _And_ Sonic!"

Knuckles looked at Sonic as if he cut him in line and stole the last tray of pumpkin pie.

"What now?" Sonic asked annoyed.

"You stole my catchphrase," Knuckles said in a deadpan.

After gaining more control of the Eggmobile than he did he own life, Dr. Eggman raised an index finger to speak.

"…Uh, ahem. Archvillain in the middle of explaining his evil plan here. Some good exposition and foreshadowing going on…"

Almost interrupting him, Sonic put his fists on his hips and turned to face Knuckles.

"What? When have you ever said "And Knuckles"?"

"I've said it!"

"Yeah, to the Master Emerald, which by the way, you lost _again_. Good job by the way."

" _Excuse me,_ but I'm trying to have an establishing villainous moment here. So if you'd pipe down and let me shoot you in the face, that'd be dand—"

Knuckles turns his entire body to face Sonic.

"I was peeing! I had my back turned! I can't help that!

"That's no excuse. In fact, you could have used that to your advantage. I read on the internet that echidnas have four—"

Dr. Eggman smashes his thin arms on top of the dash panel of the Eggmobile.

"That's it! I've had it up to here with being ignored! If you're not going to respect me in my own evil lair after I've robbed you and kidnapped your friends, then you're not welcome here! Egg Defense Unite! Mobilize!"

After Dr. Eggman gave that command, countless crackling white lights appeared in several sections of the base. Eggman robots, otherwise known as Badniks, surrounded Sonic & Knuckles in every direction. Several units ranging from Egg Pawns to Egg Flappers, Egg Knights, Egg Fighters to classic designs such as Moto Bugs and Crab Meats appeared. It was practically a Who's Who of Eggman robots.

"Wow," Sonic said with a smirk and a slick look at Tails. "Look at all those Eggman's robot _s_."

Tails sighed exasperatedly.

"It was a dumb mistake. Let it go already."

At the drop of a ring, the robots charged red and blue duo from all directions. Sonic's first instinct was to sprint ahead. He elbowed an Egg Lance before instantly changing his direction and repeated the process twice. The third time he summersaulted into his famous Spin Attack and sent a few Moto Bugs into the air with loud metallic noises. In the few seconds it took for all of that to happen, that section was lit with orange fireworks filled with multicolored parts scattered about.

Knuckles held his arms out and swayed his body back and forth. Three Moto Bugs charged at him from different directions. But the moment they contacted him, they all flew backwards at high speeds and crashed into some Egg Fighters. Knuckles did not frighten them by showing his unmentionables. Simply put, that was the magnitude of the single jab he had thrown. With a delighted smirk on the side of his muzzle, Knuckles continued to sway back and forth with his hands closely in front of him.

With a blurring rotation speed, Sonic did a spinning jump a few meters into the air. In the noticeable time it had taken him to peak in height, several Egg Pawns armed pointed their laser rifles at him along with the Egg Flappers. The air was filled with orange beams of light for a few seconds. The after math was a downpour of diverse robot parts with names complicated enough to frustrate your local physics teacher. Sonic had redirected his trajectory downward and spun to the ground in a fraction of the amount of time that it had taken him to jump up. He leaned his upper body back to avoid an Egg Pawn that flew his way. He ignored it and ran to some defenseless Egg Pawns.

The sound of air breaking could be heard amidst the consecutive explosions. It did not matter how fast they came or how dense or spiked their shields were. One after the other, Moto Bugs, Egg Pawns and Egg Fighters were sent soaring in the opposite direction from whence they came at the hands of Knuckles massive spiked fists. As if performing some cultural dance, he shifted his body in several directions with quick and fluid foot work and threw jabs, crosses, upper cuts, and downer cuts. A massive Egg Fighter ran at him with all its might as it carried a shield that eclipsed its body in width. However, when it and Knuckles collided, they both flew backwards. The Egg Fighter had a spring shield.

Sonic ignored the screaming Knuckles that flew behind him and crashed into a bunch of Crab Meats and Coconuts. He leapt into the air again and ricocheted off several Badniks using Homing Attack, which is a Spin Attack that manipulates directional momentum through intense muscle control and speed. A blue line that made several loops followed him and depicted what seemed like leisurely scribbles a student would make during class.

"That's right Sonic!" Tails shouted with high zeal. "Hit 'em with your Homing Attack."

"Ahhhh," Amy said dreamingly as crudely depicted hearts popped around her head. "He can home on me any day."

"…Nobody needed to hear that," said Sally.

Eggman squeezed his right fist.

"Grrr…"

He pushed a button on the Eggmobile.

Eggman pointed furiously at Sonic with an exaggerated motion. More Badniks like Caterkillers appeared in a series of crackling white lights.

"Attaaaaaaaaaaack!"

Sonic back flipped into a landing and slid across the ground. He looked at his foe with a smile on the side of his mouth.

"Then what were you doing this entire time?"

After he said that, he swung his upper body backwards to avoid a lance. He grabbed it in the middle, whipped his body to rotate at high speed, and flung the poor Egg Pawn at his brethren to create a collage of orange explosions and smoke.

With his left arm, Knuckles threw a hook at praying mantis robot and knocked off its upper body in a dusty explosion. A tiny gray rabbit in a green bubble remained in its place. The bubble popped and it hopped to the side to avoid the surrounding carnage.

"Yeah Eggman. This…" he began in a relaxed voice. With the opposite arm, he grunted and then threw a downer cut at an Egg Fighter with enough force to lift his back leg off the ground. "…barely counts as a warm up!"

With swift acrobatics that would make a certain bird associated superhero blush, Sonic leapt, rolled under, slid, summersaulted, and sidestepped around various lances, bullet and laser fire, and chainsaw blades with precisions and ease. He casually talked as if on a coffee break rather than being in the middle of a high tech shoot out.

"Yeah, and then on top of that, instead of sending out tougher robots, you send out more grunts. Where's the boss battle? At least throw in a mini boss to keep things varied. Did age make you forget how to villain?"

"First of all," Eggman replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "I'm not about to accept criticism on my villainy by someone who doesn't understand the complex factors such as the economics of henchmen to enemy ratios and not paying my taxes despite owning 70% of the planet. But I did hear one idea worthwhile coming from that smart mouth of yours."

"…Yeah, never say those two words in the same sentence again."

Eggman pressed a button on the Eggmobile's dashboard. Two rectangular sections sunk into the floor and raised up after a few seconds had passed. On top of those sections, Sonic's robotic doppelgangers Metal Sonic and the five-meter tall Silver Sonic appeared. They were both looking down as if deactivated.

With a toothy smile and his head resting on the back of one hand, he snapped his finger on the opposite hand. The deadly mechanized menaces raised their heads in unison. In a glimmer, their red pupils took shape before they dashed towards Sonic and Knuckles.

and Cubot held coffee mugs despite lacking the necessary mouths and digestive tracts to consume them.

Rotor looked at them as if ready to criticize.

"Why do you even have those? Don't tell me Eggman needs the extra energy. You can't be this much of a crackpot without an abundance of energy."

Orbot turned to Rotor with a poker face.

"We use these cups as a placebo to cope with the daily "pleasures" of working with the boss."

"Yeah," added Cubot. "And they help us feel better too."

"While we don't technically have stress sensors, the doctor's intense physical labor and emotional abuse make us overheat."

"Wait," requested Cream. "So you use something hot to make you feel cold?".

"Yes. That's how it works with organic creatures."

"But you're both robots," Tails said from a distance. "In organisms, that's just a reaction to prevent overheating. Logic would dictate that holding something hot would just make something that lacks and sympathetic nervous system hotter."

"Don't question fictional mechanics," Orbot said offhandedly.

Cubot lightly elbowed Orbot.

"I mean, don't question our creator's genius."

"Stop breaking the fourth wall!" shouted Dr. Eggman.

Sonic then crashed through a wall before crashing back inside. He did this two more times.

"Stop breaking _my_ walls!"

Sonic sucked his teeth as he ran from Metal Sonic at high speed.

"Can't tell me how to live my life."

Sonic spin attacked the section where the laser rope protruded from that held Amy, Tails, and Sally together. Amy and Sally fell to the ground. Tails propelled his twin tails half way and flew to some Egg Flappers. Amy pulls out a massive red and pink hammer from her back I think, don't quote me on that, and ran ahead. Sally crossed her arms and swung them diagonally to her sides. A weird noise rang as rectangular laser beams extended from her wrist bands. She ran towards the center of the base while deflecting incoming laser fire. She lifted the jar and freed the rectangular personal device being held captive. She picked it up and placed it in her vest pocket while deflecting an orange line of light with her wrist blade.

A massive Eggfighter arched its upper body back and slammed it forward towards the ground. A massive echo of flesh being slapped by metal rang about underneath the bullet shower. Big held the Eggfighter's disproportionally small arms within his palms. The robot with a massive torso moved its stubby legs. Big did not even so much as slide while the massive machine seemingly dragged its feet in place. The large purple cat simply arched his own upper body backwards, swinging the several ton robot into the air with ease, slamming it onto the floor. The explosion however sent him flying several meters across the lab. He flew over a startled Antoine who ducked in retaliation.

Using Antoione's head as a launched pad with her right hand, Bunnie vaulted over her husband and extended her metal right arm. A round, glowing green energy shield protruded from her palm. The cylindrical rocket crashed into the barrier, enveloping them in a screen of black and orange. A few Moto Bugs, Coconuts, and Eggpawns gathered around and slowly proceeded. While cautiously moving forward, a green line of light swiftly darted through the air and smacked the Eggpawn in the center directly in the center of its face. A tiny explosion occurred before its body fell to its knees and then to the ground with a metallic thud.

The one next to it was catapulted in the opposite direction with a devastating flying kick from Bunnie's mechanical leg. The two Moto Bugs on its left frantically turned around and began to charge, however something appeared to have slipped between them, quickly halting their movements. At a diagonal direction, half of their bodies slipped off before they exploded. With sweat pouring down the side of his temple and a nervous smile, Antoine drilled his front leg into the ground and thrusted his sword forward at an oncoming Eggpawn.

Several badniks were noticeably fleeing from something. An Eggpawn tripped and fell on its legs. It then sat up on its back and waved its hands in front as a show of mercy. With a grunt, Amy swung her massive Piko Piko Hammer upwards with the form of a national professional golfer that has recently been arrested for a DUI. An Eggfighter wielding a chainsaw sword whipped its stubby arms down diagonally. The sound of metal scrapping away against metal was heard while orange sparks were flicked into the air. In the next moment, the Piko Piko hammer was bashed horizontally into the center of the Eggfighter, catapulting it several feet into the air before a large explosion took its place. Amy spun her body in anticipation of incoming badniks but two blue masses jetted around her with a massive amount of turbulence. She closed her eyes and kept her skirt down with her free hand.

As if children were fooling around with two laser pointers, Sonic and his robotic double Metal Sonic jumped, dashed and clashed around Eggman's base with acrobatics at 700 mph. They simultaneously spin jumped and launched themselves at each other using a Homing Attack. While traveling in circles, they chased each other in midair for a few seconds. A miniature tornado kicked up, pulling everything and everyone in the base towards their direction. With the sound of thunder, flesh and metal clashed at a speed far exceeding that of sound. The two blue masses bounced off each other, flipping backwards through the air. Afterwards, the tornado exploded, sending everything in the room in opposite directions.

The Freedom Fighters plus Knuckles as well as Eggman and his robotic forces were flung towards dense metal walls at freighting speeds. The sound of flesh smacking against it was drowned out by a chorus of explosions from badniks being smashed by a force of nature. The Eggmobile bounced of a wall before hitting the floor and then the ceiling several times like a pinball. As a defense mechanism, the Eggmobile automatically sprouted a highly durable round window that closed the top of it.

"I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaateeeeeeeee thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat hedgehooooooooooooooooog—whoooooooooooooooaah!" Eggman screamed at the top of his lungs while ricocheting at a rate far above the daily recommendation ricocheting rate for a human. Orbot and Cubot clung onto their creator's sides as for dear life, so to speak.

All in awkward poses, The Freedom Fighters with the addition of Knuckles were practically glued to the walls. Sally, Antoine, and Knuckles all had irritated expressions.

Knuckles spoke with a level of annoyance one would experience when dealing with a child who would refuse to eat their vegetables.

"A warning would have been nice."

Sonic ran around him, Rotor, Cream, Amy, and Tails while Metal circled in the opposite direction. Metal Sonic flung himself into the air with a Homing Attack and curved into the air in an arc. It used its feet to stop itself from totaling smacking into the dense wall. It looked up to see that Sonic leaping several meters downward at a diagonal angle. It followed thrusting its back engine at maximum speed but only for a slight second. Had it continued to do so, it would have helplessly crashed into the wall with no means of stopping.

Sonic replied in a defensive tone as if he was caught drawing on the walls in permanent marker as he jumped off the next wall.

"Hey, it's not entirely my fault! _He_ started it!"

"You always do something like this," Sally said. "It's like your allergic to a 'heads up.'"

"I'm sorry. Who's totally saving your butts after you were duped by the most obvious evil trap in the history of evil traps?"

Sonic and Metal Sonic bounced off each other and the walls more times than one could reasonable count within three seconds.

Sally groaned, rolled her eyes and looked to the side as she started to slide down the wall.

"…You are."

With a jubilant cry, Sonic uncurled his body and swung his legs down onto Metal Sonic's head and the top of the jet thruster in its back. For a split second, he squatted and then forcefully shot up into the air into a flip. Metal Sonic's balance and trajectory were altered, uncurling it and sending it slamming into the floor with a loud crash.

"Bingo!"

After back performing several unnecessary tricks, Sonic landed after a few seconds of descent. White sparks crackled from the top of Metal's jet turbine and its torso. With only one working eye, it aimed its glowing menacing stare at its eternal foe as it struggled to get up.

The metal knives on fashioned as quills and fingers impaled the dense wall, leaving Silver Sonic immobile. Even with its powerful legs and jets at its ankles, Silver Sonic was not supported enough to free itself. Its legs bents several times as the wheels at its heels scrapped against the wall. The room would soon smell of wondrous odor of burning rubber.

Sonic slowly stood up and put the back of his hands on his hips. He smirked and turned his attention to the Eggmobile that finally regained control.

"Ready to call it quits Baldy McNosehair?" he said triumphantly.

The Freedom Fighters and their close associate Knuckles soon gathered around Sonic with various expressions and eagerness to fight.

"Well?" Sally asked. "Are you?"

But to no one's surprise, Dr. Eggman arced his head up and laughed.

"Quit? Ha! Don't ask such ludicrous questions."

Dr. Eggman's finger moved towards a big red button with the words "BOSS BATTLE" in white letters on the Eggmobile's dashboard.

"Sonic, my long-time adversary," he said in a particularly sinister tone. " _When have you ever known me to quit?_ "

Afterwards, the entire base shook. The sound of metal parts vibrating off the metal floor was heard for a second. Tails, Amy, Bunnie, Cream, Cheese, and Antoine looked up with cautious expressions. Antoine's teeth could faintly be heard chattering. The room then shook again, this time notably longer. Rotor, Sally, Knuckles and Sonic held their hands up as their pupils stoically shifted around the room. They were facing in opposite directions to cover the widest area. The base shook for a third time, knocking everyone off balance. Big simply turned his head in all directions.

There was a long pause. For what would seem like an eternity, the entire base was inaudible. If one had enhanced hearing, perhaps they could hear a few hearts beating more rapidly with each passing moment. Still poised to fight, the Freedom Fighters and their running joke spawning companion Knuckles stood firmly. Whatever it was that was approaching it had made its presence known before it was even visible.

Eggman's smile slowly widened.

With a terrible noise of metal ripping, the ceiling of his base was slowly torn off by a giant white hand. Cream crouched down, shut her eyes and squeezed her ears with her hands and Cheese hugged her side as he trembled. Sally, Bunnie, and Amy all looked up with dropped jaws and wide pupils. Antoine did the same thing except his jaw literally hit the floor. Knuckles and Rotor wore frustrated expressions and Knuckles clenched his fists. Sonic simply frowned.

Dr. Eggman's laughter slowly raised from a low chuckle to the signature flamboyant maniacal tone that is reserved for only the vilest of men.

"Oi," Antoine said exasperatedly. "I do not like ze sound of zhat."

The sky was filled with dozens of dozens of armed Egg Flappers and bee shaped badniks. Even further back were massive airships spanning several miles in length and width. But the true menace was right above them. A giant face fashioned after the evil genius himself stared at the cornered heroes. Despite being several meters above them, it was still apparent that it was much larger than the base they stood in. It picked up Metal Sonic and placed it on its right shoulder and afterwards removed Silver Sonic from the wall with ease to place it on its left.

The Eggmobile floated into the air to join its final trump card. The window covering its top retracted back inside of it. Even though that was a tactical disadvantage and even though he had speakers installed, he did so with intention. He did it because it did not matter anymore. He had won. Most importantly, he wanted his mortal enemies to hear his true voice one _final_ time.

"Meet my latest and greatest creation Sonic," Dr. Eggman said with a disgusting amount of, arguably justified, pride. "I call it the Egg Behemoth. But you can call it The End."

Dr. Eggman leaned forward so much, it looked like he could fall out at any moment. His gluttonous upper body wrapped around the edge of his flying chair.

" _Of you_."

As Dr. Eggman's laughter reached its apex, the Egg Behemoth's imitation glasses slowly lit up into a yellow hue.

"Any last words my most troublesome and worthy adversary?"

With no fear behind his words and no doubt in the people that stood beside him, Sonic simply grinned and said,

"Maybe someday."

Eggman's smile collapsed. This was supposed to be his victory. After years of dealing with defeat after defeat and setback after setback, this was the moment where he finally turned the tables and utterly and totally annihilated the pests known as the Sonic the Hedgehog and The Freedom Fighters, with Knuckles of course. They were outnumbered on all angles and outgunned as well. It would be a long drawn out battle that would surely end in their defeat. There was no doubt about it. Nobody would come save them at the last second. This was truly the end of the road for Earth's mightiest, copyright pending, heroes.

So why had that smug little turn of a hedgehog responded with a smile?

A moment ago, the faces of his friends were filled with anxiety and dread. But after hearing Sonic's declaration, their expressions morphed into something greater. It didn't eliminate those negative feelings but it would be the driving force behind their next actions: determination, passion, trust, _hope_. Even the 6-year old Cream and the faint of heart Antoine stood firmly ready with scowls of tenacity aimed at their many foes. If this was their final day, their final moment, they had come to accept that. But they were fighting for something so much greater than any one of their lives and they would give everything in their hearts and souls to defend it.

 _But no matter how fierce the foe, they would not allow anyone the satisfaction of an easy defeat._

The sound of Dr. Eggman grinding his teeth together made Orbot stick a hand out in concern but he stopped halfway. This was not simple frustration. This was fury. Unadulterated rage built up after years of antagonism and a thirst for vengeance that was ever so close from being quenched.

And it was armed.

The yellow in Egg Behemoth's eyes grew brighter. The armed badniks aimed the guns downward. The battleships several miles above did the same with their massive laser canons. The Eggmobile floated higher into the air.

"Fine. Have it your way," Dr. Eggman said fed up and with a bit of disappointment. "I did you the favor of allowing you dignity in your final moments, but it seems that you've always been foolishly brazen, even in the end."

While Eggman was talking, Tails turned to Sonic with a worried look.

"You _do_ have plan, right?"

Sonic turned his head and immediately responded with a bit of offense in his voice.

"Of course, I do!"

Dr. Eggman realized he was being ignored again but he didn't care this time. He raised he right arm.

"Eggman Army," he solemnly said.

The inside of the laser guns on the badniks slowly began to glow yellow as well.

While still looking at the coming storm, Amy motioned a hand at Sonic.

"Uh, sweetie," she said in a worried expression. " _Now_ would be a good time to use it."

"Wait for it…" Sonic lowly said.

The Egg Behemoth's eyes were a blinding white.

Sally turned to Sonic.

"Sonic!"

Sonic swung his head at Sally.

"DON'T RUSH ME!" he snapped back. "…Pffffft, ksssh, hehehehehe..."

Amy looked at Sonic with intense concern for his mental health.

"What could possibly be funny in this very dire moment?!"

"Don't say die!" Antoine squealed.

"…She didn't?" Rotor said with a puzzled expression.

"I swear to Chaos," Knuckles began. "If the last thing we hear is another one of your lame jokes, I'm punching you into nonexistence."

Dr. Eggman swung his arm down with all his might.

"FIRE EVERYTHING!" he shouted with every bit of strength at his disposal.

A bright yellow beam shot out of The Eggbehemoth's towards the towering rock formation where the base stood upon. The badniks released several speedy lasers in unison from all directions. A hail of missiles rained down from the armada that attempted to overthrow the heavens.

Despite all that, Sonic continued to cackle to himself. He turned to Amy as if he heard the funniest joke that ever has been or ever will be conceived. His cheeks were filled with a toothy and contagious (in any other circumstance) grin. He was barely able to keep his eyes open. He was on the brink of tears. He was hysterical.

He said one thing.

"Sonic…Rush."

After that, several miles of a beautiful oasis of rock and desert was drowned in an ugly, formless storm of orange and black.

The window to the Eggmobile protrude up once more.

Orbot and Cubot crouched into circular and square shaped cases and trembled.

Despite the fact that he had finally defeated his foes once and for all, Eggman did not reveal in his victory like he normally would. Instead, he watched. He observed. He paid great heed to the shower of fireworks that he caused before him. Even his own badniks were destroyed. Using the full power of a brain with an IQ of 300, he took note of every single detail of that formless destruction with chilling accuracy and speed.

He did not laugh. He did look away.

All he could see was an endless whiteness. An end. A new beginning. Everything he had been working for during these years of globe trekking had led to this very moment. He could see his future unfolding right before his very eyes.

For 23.79 seconds, Dr. Eggman stared indifferently into the white abyss without blinking.

Afterwards, although no one could tell, he closed his eyes.

He basked. He internalized.

Black clouds rose from the ground with a terrible stench. The stench of carnage. The stench of malice. The stench of hatred. The stench of defeat. The stench of victory.

All that remained was the Egg Behemoth and the two robot doppelgangers that stood on its shoulders, unaffected by the previous devastation along with a deep gaping, black crater spanning for miles.

Eggman remained silent for several seconds. He then opened his eyes and spoke.

"All forces, return to the mother ship. Ready the remaining fleet for invasion of the western hemisphere. This world must know its new leader has arrived."

The Eggmobile turned around and began to ascend. His air fleet, now out of ammo, slowly and unnoticeably began turning to the side. With a large noise, the Egg Behemoth slowly turned around and took a giant step.

There no emotion in his voice. In a way, it felt like a hallow victory. It was nothing at all like he imagined. Some people attain their goals and reach a state of stupor where they can die happy. Others feel an anti-climax that makes them wonder "Was it all really worth it?"

Dr. Eggman was neither. He had won. He had earned his rightful throne. There's no need to become excited over something you've owned for decades.

Orbot's head slowly raised as he opened an eye. He looked up.

"Uh…boss?" he cautiously said before standing up. Soon, Cubot followed.

Eggman did not even bother face them when he spoke.

"What now, Orbot?" he asked.

"Uh…"

But he didn't give his minion time to answer. Dr. Eggman swung his entire upper body around.

A lone towering rock formation stood tall amidst the smoke. It was not there prior. It could not have been. Nor could it have survived annihilation on such a massive scale. It was impossible for Dr. Eggman to miss something this massive. He had seen everything little detail, every tiny rock, every cactus, every cotton wheel vaporized before his very eyes. And yet…

Maybe he knew things would turn out like this. Maybe he was only pretending to be stoic so he could act surprised because he could not handle the outcome any other way. After all, he had seen everything. It was impossible for him to miss.

 _Regardless, Dr. Eggman's face shaped face shaped base stood perfectly intact as if it had bypassed all the damage aimed at it._

A rare chuckle was heard.

"Okay, I'll admit," Knuckles said with a smile.

 _And amidst the smoke stood the heroes who had declared war on the mad man hellbent on world domination._

"That was kind of funny."


	2. Chapter 2

For a moment, his entire mind went completely blank. Not even an echo of a thought rang through his mind. But that moment was fleeting and ever so easy to miss, much like his eternal foe. His thoughts were written all over his face. The way his jaw hung open, the crevices around his cheeks, the folds in his brow. The subtle drops of sweat rolling down his face.

And for a fraction of a fraction of the smallest form of a second. Just for a measurement of time so close to nothing, it was easily ignored…

He smiled. It was a subtle smile, if it could even be called that. It was much better to say it was a reaction, much like the slight changes one's face makes when they lie.

He might have known the answer, but in order internalize it, he asked it anyway.

"…How…? How, how, how, how, howwwwwww?!"

With every word, he slammed the dashboard in front of him with his balled-up fists. In his rage, he was careful not to break it.

"There's no way you could have saved everyone in time! You're just not fast enough!"

With the smuggest look ever, Sonic flipped a palm sized mass into the air and caught it without looking.

"Chaos Control."

"Chaos Control?"

"Chaos Control."

Dr. Eggman slammed his right fist on the dashboard with much less power than he previously did.

"Chaos Control…" he said as he damned the concept to infinity in his heart simply for the fact that it worked against him in that one moment. "But you never use that!"

Sonic looked away with an irritated expression as if calling back an embarrassing moment he wished he could forget.

"Yeah, I'm already confused for _that faker_ enough as it is."

The blue emerald glimmered in Sonic's palm as he held it up. With the skills of an illusionist, he brought it behind his back and brought his empty hand to his side.

"So," he said. "You wanna call it quits now? Or are you just that desperate to get your butt kicked for the umpteenth thousandth time?"

Knuckles spoke with eagerness in his voice as he cracked himself. I mean his knuckles.

"Please say you want to get your butt kicked."

Dr. Eggman gnashed his teeth together. He cocked his upper body back and whipped his right arm diagonally. His palm was aimed at his mortal enemy and his allies, as if commanding him to cease living.

"Destroy them!" he said as he pointed furiously at his target.

"By the way, Eggface…"

Sonic's tone was grim. Despite that, he smiled. He closed his eyes and opened them again. The Eggbehemoth's massive arm swung down towards him. Following it was the sound of wind being slied. A 140-ton mass of metal was 3 inches away from the top of his skull.

And yet…

Before it could even touch the floor of the base, _Sonic was running along the torso of the massive machination._ This was not teleportation. This was less than half of his top speed.

The Egg Behemoth's arm sunk into the mass of rock with a loud crash. Sonic kicked off it with one foot and slammed his feet at the side of the Eggmobile. It flew back for a few feet. Sonic squatted and looked Dr. Eggman dead in the eyes. Despite sunglasses obscuring them, Sonic's words would reach the very pits of Dr. Eggman's foundation.

" _I'm always fast enough._ "

Sonic kicked off the floating carrier and flipped into the air several times. He slammed his body downward and went into a spin. A moment later, he clashed with Metal Sonic and ricocheted to his left. They would repeat the process for several more seconds with what sounded like the sound barrier breaking many times.

The Freedom Fighters, and let's not forget Knuckles, were suspended in the air around the metal arm. Several massive rock fragments spread out in all directions. Much like a helicopter, Tails propelled his tails rapidly to fly diagonally upwards at approximately 234 mph. He aimed his tails downward to protect himself from smaller rocks. Then he aimed them backwards and launched himself forward towards the massive robot's head.

Bunnie held her left arm in front. A green shield appeared and several rocks smashed into it, turning them to dust. While holding Antoine's hand in her right, massive rockets burst from her soles with a roar. She plowed through oncoming debris from the front while Antoine whipped his sword in several directions to either slice through or deflect fragments.

Big jumped into the air with Cream and Amy sitting on his shoulders. Rotor followed a few meters to his left with Sally sitting on his left. Knuckles soared through the air diagonally with his fists in front of him, not as he punched through incoming rocks with ease. He spun his body around and drilled through a very large boulder without losing speed.

Machine gun turrets sprouted on the base of the Egg Behemoth's forearm. Sally climbed into Rotor's palm as he raised it.

"Freedom Fighters!" she said as she crossed her arms in her front to form an X shape. And with all her might as orange lines of violence flew past her, she shouted "CHAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGE!"

With every muscle fiber in his left arm putting in maximum effort, Rotor whipped his arm downward. The forces behind his throw had enough power to surround Sally in flames as she slammed through three turrets three times her size. She bounced off the base of forearm, leaving an uneven dep dent with a diameter much wider than her body.

Amy jumped off Big's shoulder and spun downward. At some point, a hammer appeared between her hands. While in a freefall, she grasper her hammer over her heard. She let out a cry and slammed it down onto a turret aimed diagonally. Metallic crunching filled the air and white sparks flew. Amy picked up her hammer and hoped between incoming lasers aimed at her from two turrets ahead. Before she could reach them however, Cream and Cheese dived from above and shot through both with spin attacks. The turrets were sliced into two and exploded after being airborne for a second.

"It's CRUNCH TIME!"

Knuckles crashed into a rapidly firing turret from above, ripping it off from its holder. He slid on it using his fists for a few feet, kicking up sparks and causing an ear scrapping metallic noise. He rigorously kicked his legs forward to stand up and in the same motion threw the turret forward. However, Amy swung her hammer and knocked it directly at the Egg Behemoth's face. A tiny explosion erupted between its left lenses and nose. The enormous mass of metal was flung back several meters, causing the rest of its body to tilt in the same direction. The Freedom Fighters with their trusty pal Knuckles clung onto the base of the Behemoth's forearm with all their might.

Knuckles vigorously shook a fist at Amy.

"Don't! Do that!"

Amy turned around and in the cutest pose she could muster clasped her palms together, winked innocently, and stuck her tongue out.

"Sorry!"

Despite that, several rounds of lasers darted around her body. This was due to Big pushing on a turret several feet ahead. Sparks flew and metallic popping rang about as he ripped it off the side of the Behemoth's arm and threw it at another one up ahead.

Rotor clung to the edge of the base for dear life. Sweat poured down the side of his head as he felt his legs dangle above the several miles of air separating him from the harsh desert floor. Even if it was mostly sand, a fall from the height would, while not exactly deadly for this bunch, could hurt a decent amount if they landed wrong.

Rotor attempted to pull himself up. He flexed his upper body muscles with all his might, which caused a profuse burning sensation all through out. However, squeezing harder on the edge of the Egg Behemoth's forearm made his hands slip. He felt an intense pressure as if a hand had reached into his chest and profusely squeezed his heart at short intervals. As mentally powerful as he is, this dwindled his focus.

Without even realizing it, the orange sky suddenly filled his vision. The side of the Egg Behemoth suddenly grew further and further away with each passing second. His pupils dilated. He did not have an accurate grasp on his own body. All he could feel was a light, uncomfortable stinging sensation that paralyzed him. He fell back first. A fall from that height would cause devastating damage to his spinal column.

Despite his general humility, the thought of becoming involved in this type of predicament never crossed his mind. He had assumed he was too competent to let that happen. But instead of grimacing in frustration or continuing with a thousand-yard stare of disbelief, a faint smile appeared across his cheeks. He didn't have some grand realization. He didn't look over his life and decided he didn't have any regrets.

His brows curved. That subtle smirk turned into an auspicious scowl of determination. His vision of the Egg Behemoth grew larger and larger with every passing second. It would soon go out of his sight and all that would remain was the orange sky. With another short passage of time, base of the Egg Behemoth filled his entire vision.

It is better to be competent than not. But perfection cannot be and should not be expected of everyone. However…

"Git ready Rotor!"

Should you ever find yourself falling, a good friend will always be ready to lift you up. Sometimes literally.

Rotor curled his body within Bunnie's relatively tiny robotic palm. After arcing her back slightly, she whipped it forward at full power. The smooth sound of wind being sliced filled the sky. Rotor spun around at a blinding speed and with the roar of a boom caught a blaze. The massive fire ball was aimed right at the Egg Behemoth's face. It was far too slow to dodge.

The sound of metallic devastation caught everyone's attention. Amidst the chaos, Rotor could be seen falling back first again. There were several red cuts along his body in a strange pattern. Bunnie covered her mouth with her hands and gasped. She rushed towards her falling friend. But sadly, she was too slow.

Two large metal hands quickly stormed in from the sides. They shut with a loud clang and slowly raised. Rotor groaned as he was clenched in the enormous right hand. The scene depicted looked like an uncoordinated little boy putting in an unnecessary amount of strength into holding an action figure. But the left hand faced down. It rotated and slowly opened to reveal its contents.

In a mocking display of triumph, Silver Sonic crossed its legs, placed its left hand on its hip and waved its right index finger towards the distraught Bunnie. Despite its celebratory bragging, the blade attached to the top of its head was bent and cracked at the side. Whenever Silver Sonic curls into a spin attack, it does not merely rotate its body at high speed. A metallic barrier protrudes from its limbs, coating it in a protective and destructive shell. This left the damage sustained to Silver Sonic during its clash with Rotor minimal to nonexistent.

In a rage, Bunnie raised her legs back. The booming noise of several gallons worth of rockets filled the sky. A yellow diameter many times her size followed her. She cocked her left fist back and squeezed so hard that she felt pressure on her left back muscles.

Silver Sonic was several times larger and heavier than Bunnie. Despite that, it was also rather fast since it was made specifically to combat Sonic, an entity that could reach hypersonic speeds easily. In this scenario, it had several options: blocking the shot and countering with a hit from any limb in any direction, blocking the shot then pin her down against the base of the Egg Behemoth's palm, dodge the attack then grab her and toss her into the dense side of the Egg Behemoth, and so on. But in this case, it decided to go for a classic Sonic tactic of dodging the attack and then countering.

The large silver robot squatted its legs in preparation to step to the side. However, its balance was disrupted and it made a stiff movement instead. It looked down at the source of the issue. At some point, a cutlass had been placed in the hinge behind its left knee. It quickly swung its head forward. But just as quickly as it did, it suddenly found itself looking back yet again. A massive metallic noise filled its sensors. Its red vision was filled with gray static before cutting out to black.

With the roaring of the sound barrier shattering continuously, Sonic and Metal Sonic clashed several times in the air. Lines of blue highlighted areas of the air in curves. Sonic bounced Metal but found himself backed against a wall. Upon closer inspection, he found himself backed against the rim of the Egg Behemoth's large metal shades. When he turned back around however, he would be greeted not only by Metal Sonic spinning towards him at lethal speeds but the addition of the Behemoth's massive metal hand as well. He hesitated for only a fraction of a second. But that was all it took for a fatal mistake to occur.

Do not misunderstand me.

With a loud, explosive noise, Metal Sonic was crushed between the palm and face of the Behemoth. The explosion in tandem with it smacking its own face launched its face back several meters, extended to the rest of its enormous frame. The grounded Freedom Fighters, and I almost forgot, Knuckles, clung to the surface of the massive forearm as raised several meters at once and then whipped itself down. It stopped at a diagonal angle. Its palm faced skyward and its fingers were slightly bent, forming a C shape.

Its right lens was heavily damaged, being cracked in a pattern that almost formed a three-tiered pie chart increasing clockwise where the fourth category was overwhelmingly abundant. A triangular portion on the upper right-hand side was completely missing. Massive sparks emanated from the gash along with a cracking sound like popcorn being made.

 _Evil_ popcorn.

Using its one good lens, it performed an are analysis on directly in front of itself. The Egg Behemoth could detect even the most minute of movements but placed priority on whatever moved the fastest for obvious reasons. Even if it was out of its line of sight, it had motion sensors built in around its cranium and mustache. Eluding it was no daunting task.

And yet…

It detected several moving objects through a light red screen and ranked them according to speed in yellow text. "Antoine D'Coolette. Alignment: Foe. Status: Grounded, mobile, cowering. Speed: 200 mph. Paraphernalia: (1) Saber. Priority: 12. Sally Acorn. Alignment: Foe. Status: Grounded, mobile, bossy. Speed: 98 mph. Paraphernalia: (2) Wrist mounted, high-temperature laser blade(s). Priority: 5. Cream the Rabbit. Alignment: Foe, sadly. Status: Airborne, mobile, adorable. Speed: 236 mph. Paraphernalia: (2) Large ears that create fight, Priority: 5. Must resist urge to protect. Cheese, Chao. Alignment: Foe. Status: Airborne, mobile. Speed: 237.5 mph. Paraphernalia: Bow tie. Stylish. WARNING: LEVEL OF DESTRUCTION INCALCUABLE. AVOID AT ALL COSTS."

A beeping noise rang throughout its massive cranium. Its peripheral scanners picked up something towards its right.

"Miles "Tails" Prower. Status: Airborne, offensive. Speed: N/A. Alignment: Foe. Paraphernalia: Twin tails of destruction, high but inferior intellect to Dr. Eggman, disgusting but admirable bromance with-"

It didn't even bother finishing the last scan. Several feet away from its face, it located its target.

"Sonic the "Meddlesome, ugly, putrid, sometimes humorous, please die, I secretly harbor your friendship" Hedgehog. Status: Airborne, revolving. Speed: Really fast mph. Alignment: Sworn enemy. Paraphernalia: Destructive quills protruding from head and spine, legs, hurtful words. Priority: Alpha. ANNIHILATE WITH WREACKLESS ABANDON."

As Sonic spun several times in the air, several gun turrets protruded from the Behemoth's chest and lower shoulders. Two, massive red, cannons grew from its upper shoulders. They were all aimed at Sonic. A mesh of gunfire, laser fire, missile fire, and just fire filled the air. Despite the oncoming destruction, Silver Sonic charged towards their model foe with deep discrimination, ignoring Tails and Cream. Amidst all this, the Behemoth's eyes began to glow a dim yellow.

Then, the Egg Behemoth picked up a slight movement. Eggman didn't need a high-speed, super detailed processor to notice it either. However, nobody else could detect this minute change. It may have been due to years of tangling with him, gathering a database of intimate knowledge. Call it intuition.

Dr. Eggman frowned and slammed his fist against the dashboard.

In converse, Sonic was _smiling._

He stopped spinning and slammed his feet towards the base of the Behemoth's upper arm that was diagonally positioned. He slid down it, ran through several gun turrets, around his friends (forcing Amy to hold her skirt down and Knuckles to shake his fist with a ferocious expression as he was almost knocked off). At some point, he entered a spin. He rolled around the Behemoth's curved hand.

A blue figure soared through the air through a sea of explosions and metal fragments.

Knuckles shouted with all his might.

"Hit the deck!"

But his efforts were futile.

At approximately 1297.32 mph, Sonic slammed into the face of the Egg Behemoth. At the same time, it released its devastating laser blast from both eyes. The Freedom Fighters that couldn't fly, that includes Knuckles, were instantly miles into the air behind the incoming light of devastation. Knuckles managed guide his line of flight by using his dreadlocks to catch wind and glide. Bunnie caught Sally with her mechanical hand and flew away. While carrying Antoine and Rotor by their hands respectively, Tails and Cream flew as fast as they could to avoid the incoming laser that was several inches away from their tails.

Ha.

Despite being carried, Antoine desperately kicked his legs as if running on air.

A shock ran up Bunnie's spine. She quickly turned her head around.

"Wait a sec!" she desperately shouted. But as if reading her thoughts, Sally turned around as well, finishing her sentence with a frantic look.

"Where's Amy?!"

Cream, Tails, Rotor, and Big let out simultaneous gasps.

"S-shoot!" Knuckles shouted. "There she is!"

A simultaneous feeling of guilt ran through the deepest pits of their hearts at that moment. It wasn't that they forgot about her. Rather, the ones that could do anything were positioned in a way where they could only save someone who was already within close- proximity of them. Regardless, no one could do anything to fight those feelings of inadequacy as their long-time friend fell helplessly towards the rays of destruction mere feet away.

Her limbs flailed around unable to feel any firm grasp. The sensation of grasping at the air did nothing to calm her unsteady heartbeat. She hyperventilated and the muscles in her face loosened. In a panic, she felt a strange presence approaching from behind. She swinger her body around to see the upper torso of Silver Sonic with its massive arms extended. For a few moments, her heart stopped beating. Years of close calls to death did nothing to prepare her for this instance.

Then, a slight smile appeared on her lips. A somber look formed on her eyes as they slightly close. After all this time, she thought she could finally stand on her own, next to her idol as a hero of justice. But it would appear old habits die hard.

Amy Rose closed her eyes and extended her arms, retiring to her fate.

 _Looks like I'm still a damsel after all_ , were her last thoughts in that moment.

Dr. Eggman slammed his fists against the dashboard of the Eggmobile, again, but not out of rage.

"Yes!" he shouted in jubilation.

"Noooooo!" Knuckles shouted in frustration.

Some would call this next moment a miracle. Others would call it business as usual. The ignorant would call it plot armor.

The Eggmobile shook abruptly. Afterwards, Dr. Eggman peered over the edge. He grinded his teeth together so loudly, Orbot flipped through a cell phone for evil dentists within the area.

Silver Sonic and Amy faded away in a yellow light. Afterwards, a massive explosion filled the air. Orange flames covered the ground, soon followed by black clouds.

Yes, old habits die hard.

 _But so does Sonic the Hedgehog._

While carrying Amy in a bridal position, _Super Sonic_ flew ahead of his friends just for the sake of being in first.

"Yes!" Knuckles shouted as he fist-pumped with one arm.

"Noooooo!" Eggman shouted.

Do not misunderstand Amy.

She did not accept her demise. She turned to Sonic with an irritated expression.

"You know," dotingly said. "You could have done that _any_ time, right?"

Without looking at her, Sonic simply said

"A hero's always late to the show."

But rather, she accepted her role as being eternally drawn to her hero in times of despair.

A few seconds passed.

"…That, and I didn't think about it until a few seconds ago."

"Uh-huh."

Amy snuggly embraced the side of Sonic's cheek.

"Would you two like some of ze 'alone time'?" Antoine said with a mischievous look and using air quotes with one hand.

"Shut up," Sonic replied with a frown.

"Yes," Amy said at the same time.

The Freedom Fighters, with the addition of their invaluable ally Knuckles, joined together for a chorus of laughter.

"I'm serious though," Amy said.

Several miles down below, the ruins of the Egg Behemoth lay barren on the desert landscape. Rather than appearing like a destroyed robot, it looked more like the unevenness of mountains. The coloring on its body had been displaced by black marks in some areas. Despite this, its sensors still seemed to work. It took note at its fleeing foes and made one last analysis.

"Knuckles the Echidna. Alignment: Foe. Status: Airborne, mobile, chuckling."

…

…

…

"ERROR. IT HAS BEEN MADE APPARENT THAT KNUCKLES DOES NOT CHUCKLE AND WOULD RATHER SPEND RECREATIONAL TIME FLEXING HIS MUSCLES. DOES NOT COMPUTE. SELF-TERMINATION EMMMMMmmmmmmmm…"

With a whirring sound, the Egg Behemoth's vision faded to black.

Dr. Eggman looked at the hides of the Freedom Fighters.

You're probably tired of this but I don't care, deal with it.

And Knuckles.

"Uh, boss?" Cubot said with a cautious look in his eyes and his right finger next to his mouth.

Orbot used his index finger to scroll through a list on a red smart phone.

"Okay. Dr. Cucumber seems to have an evil lair 3200 miles north of here. If we leave now, we can probably make it before closing time. If not, we could just declare war on him unless he agrees to see you. Dental health is essential for an evil villain to maintain if he or she wants to deliver that oh-so perfectly evil laugh."

"Heh…heheheheheheh…"

"See? Just like that."

"No, you _idiot._ You're all a bunch of idiots."

"…I may be an unfeeling mass of electrical impulses simulating intelligence, but words still hurt, doctor."

While Orbot was complaining about getting his puny feelings hurt, a large red button appeared on Eggman's dashboard.

"Foolish miscreants. I _always have a Plan B!"_

Dr. Eggman slammed his fist on the big red button that red "PLAN B" in all caps and white letters.

Eggman's fleet teleported miles into the sky in a yellow flash. The Freedom Fighters and, wait for it…Knuckles all looked up at the sudden appearance of the battle fleet.

"Pretty sure those are empty," Knuckles casually said.

"No…" Rotor said lowly. "He wouldn't make them appear unless he restocked them or they were an entirely new set of fully armed ships."

"Oh…Well, no problem for us, right?"

"Right," Sally said. "Sonic, get us up there."

"Okay," Super Sonic replied. "But not because you told me to. Because I want to. Chaos…"

Dr. Eggman snapped his fingers. The entire fleet disappeared in a yellow flash. In its place, a large holographic display appeared. It was divided into nine segments.

"…What?" Sonic whispered.

" _Mon Diue_ ," Antoine gravely said.

"Oh mah stars," Bunnie added.

"That doesn't look good…" Big said.

Depicted on the holographic display where images of Eggman's fleet miles above Central City, Westopolis, Station Square, Shimar, Apotos, Empire City, Soleanna, The Kingdom of Knothole, and a blue Eggpawn with rockets on its back pointing a large laser rifle at a large green emerald.

"I'LL DO IT," he shouted while facing the display. "DON'T THINK I WON'T. I'M CRAZY LIKE THAT."

"Oh, come on!" Knuckles shouted.

"No…" Sally said very lowly. "He's…he's targeting major cities around the world."

"And with that kind of firepower," Rotor in a grave tone of voice. "He could wipe out neighboring territories and wild life…"

Tails turned to Super Sonic with a grim expression.

"Can't you do something with Chaos Control?"

Sonic didn't immediately reply. In case you didn't know, if the guy with the smartest mouth doesn't immediately have a comeback, something is most definitely wrong.

"…I can only teleport to one location at a time," Sonic said in a muffled voice before gradually speaking louder. "And even if I were to stop time and destroy an entire fleet, I can't do that consecutively. I'd have to wait a few more seconds before doing it again…I can't be in more than one place at a time…"

"Then…" Cream said. "What do we do?"

Eggman's laughter could be heard from a few meters behind.

"Ghahahahahaha! Hohohohhohohohoho! How does it feel being bested by me yet again, Sonic?!"

Tails turned around with a judgmental look on his face.

"Yeah, that's never happened," he said.

"Quiet, you two-tailed freak!"

"…Okay, _ow._ "

"Well, what'll it be Freedom Fighters and Knuckles? Give up your pride and surrender your lives along with the Chaos Emeralds? Or let billions of lives go to waste because of your misguided, self-righteous, hubris? Heck, if you give me the emeralds, I might even let you go free." Eggman leaned forward. " _Might._ "

Sonic looked at Eggman expressionless. He slowly floated towards him.

"Oh, and by the way. If you attack me now, my fleet will automatically fire. And I doubt you can stop time _and_ teleport in one move. So make this next choice wisely."

Dr. Eggman triumphantly folded his arms as Sonic stopped moving. Amy tried not to let her worried expression cloud his judgement, but she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. The glowing, golden hedgehog continued to scowl at the menacing, and balding, scientists who retorted with a widening grin. Behind that smile were years of a malice and hatred.

"An ultimatum, huh?" Super Sonic replied with a smile. "Yeah…"

Suddenly, he threw Amy up into the air. Even though she held a firm grip on him, his godly strength made it easy for him to break her grasp. She yelped as she was catapulted into sky.

"Sonnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiic!" Amy said as she ascended further and further away.

With a stoic expression, Super Sonic's forehead was touching Dr. Eggman's. Startled, the mad scientist pulled back.

" _No thanks._ "

With that, Sonic disappeared. Clenching his fist with every bit of his strength, Eggman shouted furiously at the top of his lungs.

"Fire everything!"

Nine screens were filled with explosions. The sound quality was superior than anything that modern technology could provide at the time, but static interference could still be heard. After several seconds of orange flames and ear-splitting explosions, gray clouds filled the screens. Bunnie covered her mouth with her flesh. Cream's jaw weakly hung open as a steady stream of tears poured down the side of her cheeks. The Freedom Fighter and Knuckles gazed on ahead with looks of despair.

All, except for Tails who had a smug smirk.

The screen in upper right corner was the first to clear. Then the second of the first. Slowly but surely, the black clouds disappeared.

Sally paid heed to the second to last screen. She could not muster the strength needed to express her feelings properly. Instead, she let the tears flow without any attempt to hide them.

On the holographic screen, the Kingdom of Knothole was shown perfectly intact. In fact, every territory was shown as they were moments before sans the massive fleet of airships and that one blue robot.

"What…?" Bunnie said.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!" Dr. Eggman said as he stood up and leaned forward. Orbot and Cubot tried to pull him back to prevent him from falling. Luckily, the Eggmobile could sense this and adjusted its position to prevent that from happening.

Super Sonic reappeared and caught Amy between his arms.

"I told you, Eggface," he said with a cocky voice. "I'm _always_ fast enough _._ "

At some point, a large circular vehicle with angel wings had appeared. This was the air craft known as the Freedom Fighter Special that functions as an air carrier and base of operations for the Freedom Fighters. With the sound of glass shattering, the Chaos Emeralds burst from Sonic and raised several into the air. They spun around for a few seconds before flying off at high speed in opposite directions, leaving a trail of their perspective colors.

Sonic fell on the top of the Freedom Fighter Special while the rest of the Freedom Fighters, and Knuckles, very important, headed towards an open platform. Eggman stared with a blank expression as his foes fled the scene. With a roar of the jet's engines, the massive air carrier flew forward, eventually leaving the human eye's level of detection.

For a few seconds, there was no sound except for the humming of the Eggmobile.

Cubot was the first to speak.

"That…" he said in amazement. "That wasn't Chaos Control, was it?"

"…No," Orbot said as if taking a second to deeply contemplate. "That was pure speed…"

"Gee, am I glad that Sonic's a good guy, right doc?"

Cubot covered his mouth after uttering that last word. Him and Orbot looked at their creator as he stared at the horizon a stoic expression. The setting sun painted the sky with a dim coat of orange. Dr. Eggman slightly arched his head to look at the serene scene. The day ended in defeat, just another day in the life of Dr. Ivo Eggman Robotnik.

An eerie grin appeared across his face. Orbot was under the impression that he was hiding the humiliation with a Stephord smile. But he noticed something. Things like feelings aren't the same for what we call robots. But even though they are technically incapable with sympathizing with organic beings, there are more than one ways to skin a cat. To Orbot, that smile seemed unnatural.

"Hahaha…" that man known as Dr. Eggman calmly laughed. This time, even Cubot's eyes widened. The two geometric robots shared a quick glance before returning their gazes to their creator. "Yes, Cubot. I guess I am."

"…WHAT." Cubot said. It was not a question. It was more of an expression of utter disbelief and shock.

"Doctor," Cubot began. "Perhaps we should see a real doctor later. You _never_ agree with Cubot."

Dr. Eggman turned around to Orbot. He had a very calm smile. If this scene were one's first sight of the mad scientist, one would describe him as wholesome and jolly as opposed to certifiable.

"Oh, don't get me wrong my eternally loyal and incompetent lackey," he said. "Cubot is a totally witless and incapable imbecile. He just happened to be right this one time."

"What…" Orbot chose his next words cautiously. "Do you mean?"

The afternoon sky slowly but surely disappeared. As Eggman talked, the orange was slowly replaced by a dark blue.

With the sun setting, Eggman's smile grew more menacing.

"Phase 1 has been completed. And that blue goody-two-shoes played right into my hands the moment he let the emeralds disappear. I might have to make a few calls and place a few deals, but in the end, I'll come out on top. Gentlebots, it's the dawn of a new era."

With his arms behind his back, Dr. Eggman turned around to look at the bright full moon. A white light filled his shades. Despite this, only darkness could be felt in his words. He continued to smile as he spoke.

"This is the year I totally and utterly defeat Sonic. Once and for all."


	3. Chapter 3

Above Desert Hill Zone, 18:59

The Freedom Fighter Special sliced through the night sky above the desert. The powerful jet engines that propelled it blended in perfectly amidst the many stars. The massive mass of metal served as a mobile base of operations, so naturally it would include everything from living quarters to a kitchen and even a recreational center.

There was a certain room with a large round table surrounded by several chairs. While it served a multipurpose function in the past, it was then being used as the meeting room.

The Freedom Fighters with the exception of Bunnie were seated. No, Knuckles did not sit down. He stood. He's not a Freedom Fighter. I don't know how many times I've stressed that now.

Sally also stood but for an entirely different reason. People giving presentations tend to do that. Standing to her left was a girl lynx who went by the name of Nicole.

Rotor set The Freedom Fighter Special on auto pilot, coordinating a direct course towards Knothole. With assistance from the resident A.I. Nicole hooked up to the fortress' control deck, it was set to shift its position if it ran into any obstructions.

Sally slightly leaned forward and placed her hands on the table. Her eyes narrowed while she briefly studied everybody in the room.

"Freedom Fighters," she said with a natural air of authority and respect. "And Knuckles. I believe it goes without saying that our latest escapade went a little too well."

"Too well?" Knuckles asked with a bit of skepticism as he folded his arms. "We almost died. Several times even. In fact, Amy made an especially close call. But a win's a win, right?"

Sonic turned his head to the right and looked at Knuckles with a judgmental expression. He then looked back to Sally and pointed back at his red friend with his left thumb.

"Why is he still here again?" he said. "I'm pretty sure he has a giant green rock that he's supposed to let get stolen for the umpteenth time."

"Fight me!"

"Not in front of the children, sweetie."

"Guys," Tails said as he narrowed his eyes and placed the tips of his fingers on his temples. "Focus, please."

"He never calls _me_ sweetie," Amy grumbled as she folded her arms and puffed her cheeks.

"...Anyway," Sally said. "Normally, Eggman goes out of his way to keep his plans hidden. Logic would dictate that informing your enemy of your position would leave you open for interception."

Rotor squinted and placed an index finger under his chin.

"It _was_ awfully suspicious that he intentionally lured us into his base," he said.

"But," Bunnie said with a bit of concern in her voice. "Why would he lead us to his base if alls he wanted to do was blow up a bunch of cities? He could have done that with us in Knothole, catchin' us completely off guard. We wouldn't even have enough time able ta react. The fact that he led sugarhog of all people to his base makes even less sense."

"Eggman's goal is world domination," Tails said. "He uses destruction as a tool of instilling fear into the people and forcing them into submission. He's proven time and time again that he's more than capable of large scale devastation, even on the planetary level. It wouldn't make sense for him to kidnap us only to blow up territories that he wants to rule and at this point, he's already infamous enough that he doesn't need to prove his power…Something's definitely not right here."

"Additionally," Nicole said. "He controls 32.97% of the planet's resources. He would have no incentive for demonstrating that he is capable of destroying the empire he has spent years slowly acquiring."

"Wait," Antoine said. "Et es true, we ave been duped but what would be the point in not initially inviting Sonic? Could it be zhat Eggman is using him to further his agenda for world domination? The fact that he could teleport his fleet over any major city, including Knothole, shows zhat he could ave destroyed us at any time he felt. Capturing us only to destroy us is redundant, wasted effort. And chances are, slim as zhey may be, he would attempt to pour all his assets into overwhelming Sonic if he was ally less. But he clearly saw incentive in luring him to his own base and destroying us all at once."

"But how _would_ Sonic factor into his plans?" Amy asked. "Sonic has a sharper nose for an Eggman plot than anybody and he's stubborn to a T. He'll fight Eggman until he's completely incapable of continuing, no if, ands, or buts. Fooling him into unknowingly helping his worst enemy that he knows so well is a tall order. A much bigger task than Eggman may be willing to partake when he could just send a giant robot, army, or whatever to _try_ and smash him." Amy looked down, squinted, and placed her bent index finger under her lip. "Then again, he's tricked Sonic before, but he's only ever lured him into traps. He's never directly tricked him into taking action. Sonic values freedom too much to do anything he doesn't want to unless it serves the greater good. And there was the time we the latest Extreme Gear Grand Prix, but he hid his identity and played into Sonic's…interests…"

Sally snapped and pointed at Amy

"Bingo," she said. "He wouldn't even try to fool Sonic directly. The key to manipulating him would be to force him to be himself. It's how he fooled him on the ARK a while back. He was just playing into Sonic's good-hearted nature. And he's doing the same thing by not only putting the general populace in danger but by marking us, his closest friends, as targets. He wants Sonic to _know_ that he can hurt us at any time."

Sonic leaned back into his seat with his arms folded behind his head and his feet on the table. He looked to the side with his eye(s) half open. One might suspect he was in deep thought but his closest friends might attest that he was just bored.

He rubbed the bottom of his nose with his right index finger.

"Yeah," he said. "I may have dropped the ball on that one. Trusting Egghead for anything that isn't world dominated related is a no-go."

"It's not your fault," Sally said. "He gave you an ultimatum. 'Do this or someone gets hurt.' Only this time, it's on a global scale. Question is, why? What is he gaining by doing that?"

The room went silent. As she held Cheese in her lap, Cream looked around at her elders who folded their arms and shifted their gazes around. Big laid his chin on the table in defeat. After a while, Tails spoke up in an annoyed tone.

"Chaos Emeralds," he said as he rolled his eyes. "He wanted the Chaos Emeralds. Sure, he could have just sent any number of his robots to go after them but even that would have gathered suspicion. Sonic would have eventually noticed and step in. There's also a minute possibility that G.U.N might have interfered."

Amy spoke in an offhand manner.

"You mean the government organization that never does anything anymore?"

Bunnie placed her left hand on Amy's shoulder. She quickly turned around at the sudden sensation of cold metal. Even though she was old friends with the cyborg, her reactions overrode her conscious thinking for that split second.

"To our knowledge," Bunnie said with an earnest smile. "But that's a conversation for another day, sugarhog."

"Ah," Antoine said as he raised his right hand to signal that he had a point to make. "And ze fact zhat we just had a major battle would lessen the chances of us _going after zhe Emeralds right away._ He's probably sending a search party as we speak!"

"Slow down there, Antoine," Sally said as she raised her right hand as a signal for him to calm down. "Both Metal and Silver Sonic, two of his fastest chief enforcers, were destroyed."

"That," Knuckles said. "And me and Sonic took out like seven zones worth of badniks."

"Right. He also lost a large portion of his fleet. Right now, he's low on resources. If he anticipated that we would discover he was after the Emeralds, he wouldn't be so hasty as to spend more of his already dwindling forces on a task of major importance when the possibility of defeat would be eminent. We have to consider that he might outsource help."

Sally didn't speak as her gaze shifted to everyone else in the room.

"Guys, Eggman's planning something big."

Big sat up with his eyes wide open.

"Hm?" he said.

"Heh, no, not you."

"I'm more concerned at how grammatically incorrect that would have sounded in the context of my name."

Sally stared at Big with a blank expression. Amy, Cream, Cheese, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, Nicole, and Tails soon did the same. Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"I wonder how Froggy's doing..."

"So," Sonic said. "Which of my Rouges Gallery do you think he'd be digging up?"

" _Our_ Rouges Gallery," Knuckles said.

"Oh, don't be so possessive. You have an entire island to yourself."

"You can have _this room_ to yourselves too," Amy said in an obviously spiteful tone.

Sally sunk her face into her palm. Nicole smiled, rolled her eyes, and pointed behind her. A holographic projection appeared. It displayed a few familiar faces. Others however, seemed entirely new, at least to Sonic.

Sally pointed at one of the possible strangers with her index finger. It was an especially heinous man with a creepy smile that showed sharp teeth. He had blemishes on his pale skin and a very long white beard. His ears were pointed and he had a horn on top of a bald head. The icing on the cake to this especially sinister muggle were his crimson eyes.

It is not wise to judge by appearances but if one were to guess he was evil based on that description, they wouldn't be wrong.

"Walter Naugus is a strong contender," she said.

"But…" Cream timidly said. "I read about him in the history books. Doesn't he hate Eggman?"

"Yes, but that's exactly what makes him the perfect candidate. We wouldn't expect a sudden attack from him, especially since we're concerned about Eggman. Plus anything he'd do to oppose us could be used to distract us from gathering the Emeralds first. We should assume Eggman's spent a considerable amount of time allocating allies for this plan."

Sonic raised his right hand. With a smile, Sally sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Yes, Sonic?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "Walter who?"

Sally frowned.

"Former wizard of the Acorn Kingdom, turned traitor because he wanted power, really spiteful at my dad for losing to him in strip poker. Sonic, we went over this several times."

"Yeah, I don't bother remembering bad guys whose butts I didn't personally kick."

Amy leaned forward and put her hands on her hips.

"That's code for 'I wasn't paying attention and was instead thinking about how handsome I am,'" she said.

"In my defense, I'm fairly handsome."

"Fairly punchable too," Knuckles said."

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

"WALTER," Sally said almost shouting. "Is especially dangerous right now because he is in hiding and we haven't been able to locate him since his defection. Although we know he's an elemental user, he kept to himself often. He could have any number of skills related to the supernatural that he's built up over a lifetime of wizardry that we're completely unaware of. That in addition to him being involved in the Acorn's Strategic Board for a brief period, we must be weary of his tactical prowess. Be prepared for the worst from him and expect anything. Literally anything."

"…His face scares me," Cream said lowly.

"Me too," Antoine said as he nodded in agreement.

"Luckily, we have a method of dealing with him. The Sword of Acorn is the only thing that is impervious to his dark magic. With it, we should be able to minimize the damage he can do. If that pans out, we can secure him in a special cage in the Detention Facility for his crimes of treason and conspiracy against the throne. However, he's been out of the picture for quite a while and we haven't been able to collect any intel on him during such. Anything could happen so we should prepare contingencies in the event the Sword fails. Next…"

She pointed to a picture of a wanted poster of a purple weasel wearing a fedora, a green duck with a goofy smile, and a light yellow polar bear with a green scarf and red skull cap.

"Fang the Sniper, Bean the Dynamite, and Bark the Polar Bear. The Hooligans are excellent at avoiding authorities and are Eggman's go to for grunt work that requires a delicate touch of destruction and intelligence not present in his own forces. They're thieves to the bone and they're darn good ones too. We've beaten them before but we never could successfully detain them. They're collectively cunning enough to use that fact against us especially under Fang's guidance. We need to be weary of any underhanded tactic or premeditation on their part. For all we know, Eggman could have supplied them with any assistance before-hand."

Next, Sally pointed to an angry looking lynx with a straw cap.

"We also have to consider the possibility of assistance from other kingdoms seeking to dethrone the Kingdom of Acorn as the most affluent kingdom in the world or to take our resources. Unfortunately, that includes the Ryug Clan as suspects. They're not allies and have this intense urge to be the "strongest clan in world" or some other Shonen nonsense. Them being an entire army of ninjas makes them especially dangerous since they've made operating unnoticed into an art. They could have and could be taking any number of steps right now regarding this plot."

Sonic slammed his palms on the table to gather everyone's attention. He had his eyes closed and a bleak look on his face.

"They could be," he said lowly before he slowly opened his eyes. " _In this very room._ "

Cream squeezed Cheese and gulped. As he shut his eyes, the round ball on Cheese's head morphed into a scribble. A drop of sweat ran down Big's temple. Knuckles took a step back and placed his hands up while his gaze darted around the room. Antoine's eyes widened and he clung onto Bunnie's waist, who looked around with wide pupils. Amy spun her back and leaned onto Sonic's as her sight wandered. Rotor and Tails narrowed their eyes and smiled.

"C-c'mon, sugarhog," Bunnie said with a bit of hesitation in her tone. "Stop messin' around."

"Y-yeah," said Cream. "D-don't scare us like that Mr. Sonic. It's mean."

Sonic laughed while Amy held her hammer diagonally and silently studied her surroundings.

"Nyuk nyuk nyuk."

"I'm not scared of some highly trained assassins and spies," Knuckles said with his pupils rotating in various directions. "I eat spies for breakfast."

Sonic looked at Knuckles with a slick expression.

"You wish," he said.

After he turned back around, Sonic's eyes widened for a second when he noticed Sally had her wrist blades on and Nicole looked around cautiously.

"Uh, guys. You _do_ know I was kidding, right? Kidding? Noun? A statement or remark made with humorous regard and not meant to be taken seriously? As in 'Guys, you _do_ know I was kidding, right?'"

"Joking or not," Sally said with her gaze shifted horizontally. "You presented a very real possibility. If this plan was premeditated months in advance, there's a chance that we may have been bugged without any of us noticing."

"Ship scan complete," Nicole said with a bubbly voice and smile. "There are no foreign elements within this aircraft. We may now proceed with the laughter of relief."

"I'm a little relieved," Knuckles said before he slowly folding his arms. "But I'm not laughing. Eggman just showed that he could take the Master Emerald any time he wants."

"That's not news," Sonic said offhandedly.

Knuckles grunted and scowled at Sonic who looked away with a smile, pretending not to notice.

"I'm needed now more than ever. If Eggman gains control of the Master Emerald _and_ the Chaos Emeralds, then we lose. With his brains and the amount of power at his disposal, the world as we know it would change forever. Maybe even the universe. I don't even know what we _could_ do if that happens..."

The atmosphere instantly grew anxious. Bunnie placed the tips of her left hand under her lips and looked down. Cream's eyes sadly narrowed and she redirected her gaze to her feet. Sally looked around the room and took note of her discouraged comrades. The way her mouth slightly crumpled signified that she wanted to say something but couldn't find the right way to phrase it.

At that moment, Sonic closed his eyes and took his feet off the table.

"Knux," he said, disappointed. "What kind of talk is that?"

Knuckles stoically glared at Sonic, who returned the gesture.

"When have high stakes ever stopped us from acting? It's the same ol' same, business as usual. Even if gets to that point, all we gotta do is swoop in at the last second and throw a spanner in the works. We wouldn't be doing anything any differently from what we always do."

Tails smiled haughtily at that analogy. Rotor's expression was a bit more mellow but his face seemed brighter than it was seconds ago. Amy wrapped her arms around Sonic's shoulder and leaned towards his face, making their cheeks touch. Cream and Cheese were smiled innocently. Antoine wrapped his fingers around Bunnie's robotic hand and gently squeezed it. Their somber gazes met.

And just like that, the heavy feeling of dread was gone.

Sally closed her eyes and smiled.

"I couldn't have said it any better myself," she quietly said.

Nicole observed her with a smile.

"Yeah," Knuckles said with a smirk. "But I only said that because I'm not the tactician around here. You say 'Punch this,' and I say 'When?'"

"Really?" Sonic sarcastically said. "I mean, you're totally right when you said you're not a thinker, but I don't know. That reason seems liiiiitle too convenient."

Knuckles walked to Sonic and grabbed him by the collar. He jerked him close enough to his face that their noses were touching.

"You know, I've had just about enough of you and your 'sarcasm'! How about I 'sarcasm' your face?!"

"How about you take a children's literary class?" Suddenly Sonic's eyes widened. He jammed his palm into Knuckles' face and turned to Sally. "Wait. If Eggman and Friends are scheming something now, the best thing for us to do would be to act fast. The Emeralds just scattered. Getting them first would throw whatever he's planning down the drain."

"That's exactly what he'd expect," Sally said immediately. "He knows you'd go after the Emeralds the moment you discovered they were a part of his plan. He could have any number of traps waiting that we currently can't anticipate due to a lack of information. Sonic, I'm not letting you go out there."

"Then, what do we do?"

"We wait."

Sonic leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

"Pardon me? Did you say 'sit down and do absolutely nothing?' Because I don't speak useless, especially with Baldy McNosehair involved."

"We just discussed this. He's _waiting_ for you to do something. He's _baiting_ you."

"So? I love bait! Bait's fun!"

Amy lightly placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Sonic," she said in a soft tone of voice. "We don't know what he has in store for you. Anything could happen."

Sonic turned to her with a blank expression.

"And?"

Strength slowly gathered in Amy's palms. She said these next words quietly but it was audible due to how close everyone was. It almost sounded like she was choking.

"And we don't want anything _to_ happen."

"You have a bad habit of charging in head first without thinking," Knuckles said notably loud. "If it wasn't for us, you might not even be around to complain."

Amy gave Knuckles a death glare after that remark. Knuckles shivered and looked away. At the same time, Sonic gave him a very critical look.

"And so, the pot called the kettle black," he said.

"Hm? But I didn't…?"

Sonic turned back around and placed a palm on his forehead.

"No, _I_ didn't think that one through."

"But Sonic," Tails said. "They're right. Despite results, you can be pretty impulsive."

"What?! I'm not impulsive!"

"Yes, you are," said everyone else in the room. Yes, that included Cheese.

"Your senses may be better than anyone else's, but maybe we should take a step back to premeditate this time. Just to play it safe. Not that we're doubting you but, well, better safe than sorry."

The sound of something light hitting the floor several times was heard. After a few seconds, Sonic stopped tapping his foot, closed his eyes, and pinched the skin between them. He sighed, reopened his eyes, sunk into his seat, and folded his arms.

"Okay," he said bitterly. "I'll play it safe. For now. But what does that translate into the rest of you doing?"

"Simple," Sally said. "Nothing."

Sonic did not reply for a few seconds. Then he stood up and started walking to the window.

"I wonder how far this drop is?"

Amy grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. Antoine gave a critical look and folded his arms.

"Eggman could have any number of contingencies waiting for us at every turn. Worst case scenario, he spent months meticulously planning. The sooner we act without any definite answers, the more screwed we'll be in the long run. The best thing to do for the time being is nothing. At least until he sets his plan in motion. We'll do everything we can to slow him down. Then, we'll intercept him at the apex of his plan. We'll spend these next few days brainstorming but we have to make it look like we're completely ignorant of his doomsday project."

"Wait," Bunnie said. "So, we'll just be waitin' around til' he blows up a bank or sommin'? If we're gon' stop him anyway, wouldn't it make a lil' more sense for us to do it ASAP?"

" _Thank_ you," Sonic said.

"Like I said," Sally continued. "He could have any number of traps waiting for us and the first thing he'll expect is for us is to act as quickly as possible. Granted, we usually win but he's just established that he's capable of operating under our radar. This time, playing into his hand could be lethal. So until he makes the first move, we do nothing. We'll act if he's doing his typical mad scientist thing, but we'll only do something about this huge plot at the _last possible second_. He tends to reveal his plans anyway so acting like we know could bring opportunity to change his course of actions. Any sooner, and we might be doing what he wants. We'll fight him here and there but we can only stop him for good once his plan is close to completion."

"…That still leaves a lot of room for him to do what he wants," Cream said.

"No problem," Sonic said, folding his arms behind his head. "We'll just kick his egg-shaped butt before things get too ugly. Like I said, business as usual."

Death Egg, Several hundreds of miles above Earth's atmosphere, 02:32 UST

A pair of white double doors opened, allowing Dr. Eggman to stroll into a dark room with Orbot and Cubot hovering behind. He took a few long strides and stopped with his minions following suit. He stood with his arms folded behind his back and a strong posture.

Without receiving any orders, Orbot spoke.

"Function: chat box."

A large, light blue screen appeared a few feet away from them. A list of names appeared. "Mama Robotnik, Wily, Bowser, Dentist, Those creepy, little yellow things that are irrationally popular."

"Open: groups."

The screen changed to a single list. In white lettering, it read "Project Genesis."

"Function: call."

The screen changed into a green icon of a classic cord phone. A phone tone emitted for a about five seconds. Afterward, it was lined up with a few familiar faces.

The first of those faces was a bloodshot purple weasel. He rubbed his right eye with the base of his fist and yawned.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" he said with a tired voice.

"Fang," Eggman replied with a smile. "How nice of you to join us. If you're too busy, I can call again later. Of course, I'd have to terminate your services and then have you eliminated. Can't have you running around with all my secrets now, can I? Loose lips sink ships."

"No need to do all that. I'm just cranky because no one in their right mind makes a call at 2:30 in the flippin' morning. Then again, 'no one in their right mind' just about sums you up."

Suddenly, a green, blue eyed duck filled the screen.

"Is that Dr. Eggman?" he said in a voice so loud, static feedback nearly drowned him out. Eggman slightly hunched forward and covered his ears with his palms. Orbot and Cubot covered the sides of their heads with the same motion despite not having ears. "Do doctors still make house calls? But isn't a house call when you actually _visit_ the person? That doesn't make any sense. And I guess a house call in the literal context would just be a regular call to someone's house. Furthermore, why don't you visit me anymore? The least you could do is write. But noooooooo. "Dr." Eggman has better things to do than to keep up with old friends. Keep that behavior up and you're uninvited to the wedding."

Fang stared at his looney comrade with narrow scowl and bags under his eyes. Whether that was due to exhaustion or stress is open for interpretation.

"Haha," Eggman somberly laughed. "It's good to see you too, Bean. Apologies for disturbing you. I'll make it up to you later."

Fang studied Dr. Eggman's face. He unconsciously squinted, although it was subtle. Eggman replied with a grin, as if telling saying "I know you know something's not quite right but you'll never figure it out." Fang looked away and scratched his cheek with an index finger.

A raspy man's voice then became audible. One could describe it as the slithering of a predator snake.

"You seem to be in high spirits, Ivo."

"Haha," Dr. Eggman laughed, although his eye brow twitched slightly. "Naugus. We talked about this. We are no longer on a first name basis. You _will_ refer to me as doctor and/or Eggman."

"Don't disrespect me, baldy."

"Gck!?... Better bald than being called a horny old man…"

"Heheheheheh…"

"Hohohohoho…"

Fang exchanged glances between the verbally belligerent, bald men.

"…Were you two like, a thing in the past?" he asked.

"What would their ship's name be?" Bean asked. "Waltivo…No, that sounds like a failed TV company. Ivolter…No, that sounds like a failed handgun. EggNaug? What do you think, Bark?"

In the background, a large, pale yellow polar bear sluggishly sat up from a bed. There were several bags underneath his bloodshot eyes. He slowly turned his head to Bean and squinted but didn't reply.

"As far as portmanteau couple names go," Orbot said with an index finger raised. "EggNaug would make the most sense."

"Yeah," Cubot said. "And it's the least confusing."

Eggman rested his face on his palm.

"Please don't entertain bad fan shipping," Dr. Eggman said. "This world is already halfway to hell. In fact, it'll be one of the many things I will personally seek to being abolished."

"For once, we agree," said Naugus. "Now, why are you calling at 2:30 in the bloody morning?"

"But that should be self-evident my magical mate."

"Don't call me your mate, chum."

"The Emeralds have scattered once more. This sets Project Genesis in motion."

Naugus' smiled. His raised eye brow indicated a hint of surprise but he seemed more delighted than anything. From wherever he was, he leaned forward.

"You have my full attention."

"Sonic and his disgusting Freedom Fighters have most likely deduced that I've been scheming something by now. With his tendency to butt in to things that are none of his business, the first thing he would do would be retrieving the Emeralds."

A female voice spoke up. It was a melody of authority and beauty.

"And what you plan on doing about that? Sonic is fast, and his allies are as well. They can cover land, sea, and air in a short span of time. Waiting for them to strike first would be the absolute worst course of action."

"Exactly," Eggman said. "I'm currently low on resources. But there's no doubt that they've assumed I would have laid several traps for them in advance. _Even though I'm practically powerless with over half of my fleet gone._ Since they're aware that I'm capable of obliterating them at any time, they've most likely assumed that I've spent several months laying the ground work for various traps should they go after the Emeralds even if I've done no such thing. Without really trying, my presence has influenced their decision making. Let that be known on this day.

"They're aware that I'm more than capable of manipulating them to do my bidding by forcing them to be their disgusting heroic selves. They won't act unless they're sure we're in the very final stages of our plan so they can throw a spanner in the works at the last possible second like the truly annoying heroes they are. But until then, they'll stay put. They'll be at a stalemate."

"What does that translate into for you?"

"Simple my dear. I do exactly what I'm doing right now. Nothing."

"Pardon?"

"Hold it," Fang said. "So while we're out there busting our tails, you're gonna be sitting on your fat hide with a sub sandwich in hand?!"

"For the time being, yes." Fang took mental note that Dr. Eggman didn't snap back at being called fat. "If I act, they'll use that as justification for seeking the Chaos Emeralds. And if they get the Emeralds first, it's game over. Granted, I'll still be keeping up appearances to throw them off and give you more time to act but I'm not the big bad of this season. For now, I'll just be a reoccurring villain and fan favorite."

"…But," Bean said confused. "That's exactly how a Big Bad acts anyway."

The female voice did not initially reply.

"That doesn't fully answer my question. We've been given our assignments but there seem to be holes in some areas, mainly blind spots for counter attacks."

"Hahahaha. Being cryptic is simply a formality for us mad men. But I suppose I wouldn't be a good villain if I didn't explain my evil plot with painstaking detail. After all, this is just business as usual. Now shut up and lend me your ears."


	4. Episode 4

Mystic Ruins, Tails' Workshop, 06:42

A rapid beeping rang in an area crowded with various tools. On the floor, a cerulean sheet spasmed. A two-tailed fox jerked his body up with wide eyes.

"Eggman, you've gone too far," he shouted with his fists balled in front of him. "Peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches go against every moral principal of science!"

A creaking further added to his state of hysteria. He turned to his right to see a metal shelf of various heavy, power tools falling towards him. His baggy eyes lacked the strength to form a proper expression of shock.

"Ah, nuts and bolts…"

With multiple loud, clanking noises, the shelf relentlessly assaulted the poor, lumpy cerulean sheet.

What we are presented with here with is not a typical morning in a day in the life of boy genius Miles Prower, better known as "Tails" by pretty much everyone, including himself. Normally, he would wake up from a refreshing slumber, construct a filling breakfast using the ground-breaking bread and knife method, and get started on whatever project he could busy himself with for the remainder of the day. Sometimes, he would do maintenance on his biplane, the Tornado. On other occasions, he would go on deadly adventures with his best friend. Routinely, they would be joined by the world renown Freedom Fighters.

But on this most humble of mornings, he found himself at the behest of fatigue garnered by a little under five hours of sleep.

The beeping noise continued to ring throughout the workshop.

"Awwwwww, shut up," he said with a bitter and baggy look. Afterwards, the beeping stopped. He slightly pushed the shelf up and slid out from underneath it. He stood up and blankly stared at the scattered tools.

 _I'll fix that later,_ he thought while hunched forward and scratching his back. _Or, just invent something to do it for me. But right now, I'm gonna fix me some breakfast._

Beneath the mess of tools, a shattered picture frame caught his attention. With an irritated groan, he bent over and picked it up with one hand.

In the photo, there was a smiling blue hedgehog that gave Tails bunny ears. He remembered noticing but pretending not to. In the foreground was a bald man with blue shades and a red jacket angrily shaking his fist amid a pile of metal wreckage.

Tails weakly smiled.

 _We sure had a blast that day. Sonic always knows how to have a good time…OK, he leans a little close to the property damage end, but it's usually Eggman so it's all good. Usually._

He took the picture and tossed the broken frame aside. He walked to a counter and picked a red pin from a jar holding colorful pins. He then pinned the picture to a wooden cabinet above him.

Then he opened the cabinet and grabbed a box of cereal titled "Treasure-Chests." The cover had a bowl that showed several beige rings along with closeups of yellow factory produced marshmallow rings and colorful gemstones. Under the logo, a rather voluptuous bat in a skimpy, archeologist's garb was seen leaning forward with a sultry smile and a hand on her hip. Whether this influenced the developing young boy's choice of purchase cannot be confirmed.

Tails grabbed a bowl further down and filled it up with the cereal. Then, he placed the bowl into the microwave. He pressed the "2" button once and the "0" button twice and then pressed the "OK" button located near the bottom of it. With a dinging sound, the microwave spun its contents.

He stepped back and folded his arms. With a tired look, he extended his arms in front of him and looked at the back of his hands.

 _I've got to stop sleeping naked. It's weird. Comfortable, but weird._

He flipped his hands forward and looked at them for a few more seconds. Afterwards he dropped them and stared forward. He tried to fight the sensation of his eyes getting heavy but he gave in and slowly shut them. Darkness filled his vision.

His eyes then shot open and he abruptly smacked the microwave's open button with the side of his fist. The door flung forward. Steam protruded from the bowl. Upon closer inspection, it was filled with a series of indistinguishable black shapes.

 _At least this would make for a great conversation._

Tails reached for the bowl and pulled it out of the microwave. Immediately afterwards, he yelped and dropped it. Then it fell on his foot, which made him lift knee to his chest and hop backwards. Then he backed up onto the sharp end of a screw driver. Then by propelling his tails, he flew up. Then his head hit the ceiling and he fell on his butt. Then that part of the ceiling fell onto of his head.

"YOU KNOW WHAT," he said loudly. "I HAVE HAD IT WITH TODAY, I HAVE HAD IT WITH TODAY'S MOTHER, I HAVE HAD IT WITH THAT SEXY DOLLAR STORE CEREAL. SCREW THIS!"

The angry young genius stomped over to his buried sheets and yanked them out from underneath the rubble. He picked up his pillow and walked to a corner on the far-right side of the room.  
 _  
It's too early for these shenanigans. It's usually around 10:30 when I partake in any humorous and hazardous activities anyway._

He threw his pillow into the corner and then sat down. While holding onto the edge of the sheet, he whipped it into the air so that it would cover his entire body. He turned his head to the side and placed in onto the pillow. With a very angry expression, he closed his eyes and muttered something unintelligible to himself. He then sighed.  
 _  
Stupid alarm clock…I don't even remember what was soooo important that I had to wake up at…_

Tails opened his eyes and stared at the analogue clock hung up close to the ceiling. The time read 6:46. Confused, he squinted his baggy eyes.  
 _  
Wait a minute. Something's…off…It's only been 3 minutes and 48 seconds. And normally, I'd set the alarm either at the start of or halfway into the hour. There's no way that I've been awake for 17 minutes._

Tails slowly sat up and his eyes shifted around the room.

 _In fact, now that I think about it, I came home and fell right asleep. I didn't even eat anything. Even if I wanted to, I never got the chance to set an alarm. I'd have rather gotten my full eight hours so I could challenge the day with adequate energy levels.  
_  
After a few more seconds of pondering, Tails bloodshot eyes shot wide open.  
 _  
If that wasn't the alarm, then it was—!  
_  
 **BTOOOOSH!  
**  
Before he could finish his thought, a loud explosion accompanied with the vibration of his workshop cut him off. Every article of glass in the room shattered. Tails bounced off the ground and instinctively placed a hand on the floor to stop himself from falling over. His already tired heart beating profusely.  
 _  
The intruder alert!_

"Securi…!" he said, but then stopped.

 _All the windows are broken. I don't want to let them know that I'm here. But who…?_

"Sweet dreams are made of beeeeansssss," a youthful voice said in a melodic tone. "Who am I to disaaaagreeee?"

"It's 'are made of these'," said an exasperated man with Australian accent. "It's 'Sweet dreams are made of these.' Everyone knows that."

"W-what?! You mean this entire time, everything I've known up to this point has been nothing but a cleverly constructed lie?! Up is down?! Black is white?! The class system is a necessary evil to promote social order?!"

"Not even remotely close to what I said."

"Oh…"

There was a period of silence before the youthful voice continued.

"Sweet dreams are made of beeeeanssss…"

"Arghhh…Yo, fox boy!" Tails slightly jumped at that moniker. "We know you're in there! We're going on a tour and we think you'd make for a nice groupie! So, come on out nice and peaceful like and this can end on a high note!"

"But...we're not a band."

"It was a bloody metaphor."

"But I wonder what our name would be? 'Bean and the Mean Machines'? 'Bean Heartthrobs'? 'Sweet Beans'? Guys, you try coming up with some. This is a great mental exercise."

"You need a mental exorcism."

"Not what I said, and I'm pretty sure if I were possessed, I'd know." Bean then gasped. "Okay, rate these lyrics. 'Young Bean the Dynamite, he was just fourteen. When his parents built a very strange machine…"

Tails' already out of control heart skipped a beat.  
 _  
I'd recognize that nonsensical line of thought anywhere. That's Bean the Dynamite…And the other one is Fang the Sniper. And even if he doesn't talk, I can only assume that Bark the Polar Bear is there, silently smiling besides himself…  
_  
Tails placed a hand over his mouth.

 _The Hooligans have arrived. I don't know what they want but I doubt it's any good. And whatever it is…_

Tails' eyes narrowed. A cold sweat poured down the side of his head, dampening his fur.

 _It'll stop me from getting a full eight hours of sleep…  
_  
For a time, his thoughts ceased altogether. He was paralyzed. Completely immobile by the anticipation of the foreboding consequences pertaining to these circumstances. He felt a lump in his throat, causing discomfort that made him grit his teeth. He felt his cheeks flushing. A flood of tears attempted to force their way out.

But they never came.

Instead, the young boy swallowed. Then his brow scrunched together. A strength not seen yet that day appeared in his eyes. A scowl covered his face. He slowly stood up and clenched his fists.

 _These fiends must be stopped._

"You're awfully quiet," Fang said. "S'matter? No need t'be shy. You're in good company."

"I mean," Bean said. "I did kind throw a bomb onto his lawn, so he's understandably resistant."

"Have you never done a kidnapping before in your life?"

"Even though that's not something just ask, yes, I've taken naps at various points across my life regardless of my age."

"Shut up."

"Maybe he's doing a number two?"

" _Shut up._ "

"I'm just saying. Ain't no bomb in the world shiny enough to stop me from making a brown boom. Well, let me not talk crazy…"

" _Bean._ "

"Fang."

Tails continued to contemplate.  
 _  
The defense turrets were probably all destroyed in that explosion. Fang said they know I'm here, so either they've investigated my house and/or lab in Emerald City or they're just bluffing. Even if they are thieves, I can't exactly fault them for being liars. At least when it comes to breaking and entering...Regardless, the moment they come through that door, it's all over._

He bit his lip and stared at the floor.  
 _  
It'll blow my cover, but I better put up the barrier. They can try all thy might but they won't be able to destroy my shock resistant shield unless they can muster an equal or greater amount of energy provided by the fake Emerald in the generator downstairs. And since it uses a feedback loop that essentially reuses a preset amount of Chaos Energy, it'll take a while before they can even put a scratch on it. Not that it'd stop them from trying anyway. They've got nothing better to do._

 _That should give me ample time to call for back up. Three on one seems a little out of my range, at least with their combined level of competence. But having Sonic here should turn the tides. I don't know how they found out where I live, but I'll worry about that later._

"Barrier on," he said.

A sound like fire being lit came from outside. A green light faintly shone on the inside of the workshop from a shattered windowpane high up.

Tails' turned his attention to the pile of power tools on the floor. He flew over to it and shifted his hands between them until he found an orange wrist watch like device.  
 _  
I've gotta make a less itchy communicator. Sleeping with this thing on would save a lot of time._

He pressed a button on the side of it and a blue screen lit up.

"Call: Sonic."

A smiling mugshot of Sonic appeared on the screen. A second later, a picture of Tails appeared adjacent to it with an orange wi-fi signal pointing to it. Each bar became a brighter shade until it reached the third one, diming back down and repeating the cycle. This lasted for about two seconds. The wi-fi bar turned into a white cartoon thumbs up. A blue line appeared beneath both of their pictures. This would indicate the level of sound coming from the receiving end.

However, the screen abruptly went dark. In confusion, Tails raised an eyebrow.

 _Okay, I know for a fact that I changed the batteries on this thing.  
_  
He pressed down hard on the power button for a few seconds, but it changed nothing.

What sounded like the whirring of a machine powering down reached his ears. Tails turned head to the source of the noise, the top windowpane. The green light slowly faded.

 _What…?_

"Neat little trick, right?" Fang said playfully. "We thought you might use your little nick knacks, so we brought one of our own. An Electric Magnetic Pulse grenade. I'm not a bomb nut like this looney toon here but even I'm starting to fall for this thing. She's a real beaut'. You should come on out and see for yourself. I'm sure you'd appreciate it a lot more than I ever could."

Tails bit down hard on his lip and squeezed on the side of his head. His brow bent awkwardly and it felt like a swarm of spiders were crawling on the inside of his heart.  
 _  
An EMP?! Where did they get an EMP from?!_

He exhaled. His expression then softened a bit.

 _Calm down. That's not important. Right now, I need to focus on the situation at hand. Plan A failed, so it's time for Plan B. Question is…where do I start?  
_  
With an inquisitive look, Tails placed his index finger and thumb under his chin.

 _I should address the greatest threat and work my way backwards. That'll increase the chances of my safety and only get easier from there. Worse case, they'll come in and assault me. I want to avoid a three on one battle. Aside from their combined skill level, I don't have enough energy to last a straight forward fight between them.  
_  
Suddenly, Tails raised an eyebrow.

 _But maybe I don't have to? If they wanted to rob or even kill me, they would have barged in by now. They've shown my defense systems are no match for them and they're also highly competent thieves. Overpowering me would be the easiest thing to do, but Fang seems to be leaning towards avoiding a direct confrontation. He wants me to come out without having to come in._

 _Based off that, they must see value in keeping me alive but also see value in maintaining the sanctity of my workshop._

Approximately 12.14 seconds passed since Fang spoke.

 _Me and my workshop. Those are the two key factors here. The value from me is my mind; my knowledge, which also fuels my ability to create. The value from my workshop are my inventions. But it doesn't matter where I am. If I have the right tools and resources, I can build whatever I want._  
 _  
If they don't want my lab to be damaged, then there must be something else of value here. The Tornado seems out of the question since they've got a mode of transportation, one that Fang highly values, and they can just steal a plane if they want. They want me for my mind and they want my workshop because it's useful. The combination of those two directly leads to their objective. And what do you get when you put a genius in his workshop?_

 _They must want me to invent something. And either they don't know where to acquire the necessary resources or they lack the means to create it. But they're betting on the chance that I do._

"If you're actually taking a dump," Fang said. "That's another thing. A deuce a day keeps the doctor away. We'll gladly wait a while. Besides, I don't want to be anywhere near that mess."

"If you're pooping," Bean said with his hands cupped around his bill. "Fart once for yes. Twice for no."

 _If they do enter, they're going to avoid a fight. They'd try to intimidate me to do their bidding with their strength in numbers. All the windows face the exit so escape's not an option. The garage door is electric powered and too noisy and slow anyway, never mind that it'd only take one of them to stop me from leaving through there. And the Tornado's combat functions are all electrically powered, so I can't just blow the door and fly away, also dangerous in my condition. It'll only be a matter of time before they decide to barge in._

 _I can't call for back up and now my electronic powered weapons don't work. Hiding is pointless since this place is so small that they'd eventually find me if they tried hard enough. There's nothing I can do to avoid a direct confrontation._

Tails tightly squeezed the muscles in his arms.

 _Then that's exactly what I'll give them._

 _Between Fang, Bean, and Bark, the biggest threat is Bean. It goes without saying that bombs and an eight-year old's body don't make great dance partners. He can seemingly produce an infinite number of bombs. Although I'm not entirely sure how many he can make at once, he can cover the greatest distance of destruction. The only weaknesses in his attacks are the fact that they don't explode instantly and that he's not immune to them. Even if I'm kind of pooped, I should be fast enough to avoid them._

 _Not that it matters. If the fight takes place inside, he won't even bother with them, if not to avoid blowing up the lab then to avoid blowing up his partners. And his hand to hand is…looney to say the least but he's nothing I can't handle. Since he'd be at the biggest disadvantage indoors, he'd probably be blocking the exit to keep me from escaping when they aren't looking._

 _Bark is another story entirely. He's a very strong, seasoned boxer. He's probably been doing that longer than I've been alive. A straightforward fight with him in my current condition will end badly. The only thing I can use against him is his size. I'll have to keep him at a distance. But then we have another problem._

 _Fang's quicker with a handgun than anything I've ever seen. He even forces Sonic to get a little creative sometimes, and I'm nowhere near his top speed or agility. A direct shot from a bullet won't kill me but enough of them would knock me out. His hand to hand's not too bad either._

 _They've got each other's weaknesses covered and I'm in a terrible state to fight._

Tails looked around his workshop. Beneath the various tools, a blow torch and a nail gun caught his attention. He flew over to them and grabbed them. He then walked over to his sneakers placed near the door.

He covered his mouth with the inside of his elbow and yawned.  
 _  
If I'm gonna act, I better do it fast._

Fang the Sniper stood and his arms folded. A revolver hung from the underneath his left side. He had on a scowl. On his left, Bean spun a black, canon ball like bomb on his finger. On his right, Bark stood stoically with his arms folded as well, his muzzle hidden under a green scarf.

"Alright," Fang said. "We're going in."

Bean stopped twirling the bomb on his finger and it dropped to the ground. He stared at his leader with a cautious look.

"But," he said. "I thought you wanted to avoid the heinous stench of a prepubescent's bowl movements."

"Don't care anymore. We've been out here long enough and I'm missing my soaps. Go up top and stand by. Bark, with me."

"Rodger dodger, codger."

Bark nodded. He and Bean walked to the stairs leading to the front door. After Bark lowered his right arm to the ground, Bean stepped on his palm. Bark whipped his arm up, launching the green duck a few meters above the roof of the workshop. With a light thud, he landed right on a round part of the roof with a series of broken windows.

Fang lowered his gun and swiftly tip toed up the stairs. He pressed his back against the left side of the door. Bark did the same on the right and put his fists up.

"Last chance, fox boy," Fang shouted. "Three seconds then we're coming in."

Holding up his three middle fingers at Bark, Fang lowered each finger with a passing second starting with his ring finger. After his hand was balled up, he released it and chopped the space in front of him. Bark rotated parallel to the door, swung his right arm back, and propelled it forward. With a loud crash, the door was knocked down. He paced in a few feet with his hands up towards the right with Fang following, aiming his gun to the left.

The two surveyed the room for a few seconds, staring at every corner within their field of vision. Directly in front of them was a series of cabinets connected to the ceiling, a counter, a sink, more cabinets under the sink, and a fridge. On Bark's right, a fallen shelf with various tools and nails lied about. Nothing of importance was in Fang's direction aside from a table covered by a cerulean cover and few feet of empty space.

"Don't make this harder on yourself. We just came her for a little negotiation. We don't want no trouble and if you help us, we'll be on our merry little way." He turned his head to Bark's direction and whispered. "Check the fridge and the shelves. Little bugger looks tiny enough to fit in any of them."

With his fists still held up in front of him, Bark swiftly tip toed to the fridge. Fang aimed his gun at his back. Bark stopped and the entrance and lightly gripped the handle with his right hand. He stepped to the side to put the door within shooting range and held out his left arm in an L shape towards Fang. After two seconds, he quickly swung it down and stepped to the side, yanking the door open.

A plastic bag holding sliced blueberry bread, orange juice, butter, cheese, milk, a carton of eggs, lettuce, cupped ramen noodles, a ¾ filled bottle of ketchup, and two bagels. These were the contents of the refrigerator. However, there was a distinct lack of prepubescent two-tailed fox within the premises.

"Little bugger likes to eat healthy, I see," Fang noted out loud. "We should take some cues, Bean."

"You cannot defeat my feelings for genetically modified canned assortments," spat out Bean.

Bark rolled his eyes and lightly shut the fridge door. He walked over to the cabinets on his left. He slowly brought his hands to the top shelves at the farthest right corner. As his hands neared the round handles, he quickly extended them and yanked open the doors. His eyes widened.

All he saw was a red tool box and box of cereal with a picture of a scantily dressed archeologist bat girl. He stepped to the left and put his hands to the next shelf.

Being an expert marksman comes with many implications about one's visual abilities. One being that they are excellent when it comes to paying attention to even the finest of details. The other is that they almost never miss something they set their sights on. Even on their own, either would seem like highly desirable skills. However, the addition of a fast processing mind would turn the possessor of said skills into a whole other monster.

Fang is such person. One could call him a genius in the sense that he possessed a highly refined competence, that being his very precise aim. To illustrate his feats, he once shot a hole through a leaf from over seventy yards away. This was with the addition of several obstacles including a tire wheel, glass bottles, and a child playing with arsenics.

This was also done in .35 of a second. More specifically, he pulled out his revolver and took precise aim in slightly over 1/3 of a second. He did it five more times, bolstering through the center of all the glass bottles lined up and the apple of the aforementioned arsenic loving boy's head. Additionally, he is capable of fully reloading his revolver manually, that is placing a bullet in the six round-chamber by hand, in approximately 1.236 seconds on average.

The mental faculties required to achieve these feats would place Fang among one of the, technically, most intelligent people on the planet. Intelligence is, after all, the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. This would also apply to the breadth which you can apply said knowledge and skills. It is also worth noting that Fang is self-taught.

Among other factors, a genius is characterized by a fast processing mind, which is known as smarts. That in and of itself does not signify notable intelligence as fast processing can be achieved by simply thinking several shallow thoughts in succession, which impressive, is something any idiot can and will do. What separates the smart and the dumb however is the speed at which one can process information. In other words, being smart is akin to being able to fire an automatic machine gun with precise aim with little to no margin of error. Simply being able to fire a bunch of bullets at once is not only not impressive but can also likely get you killed if you're not attentive over your surroundings.

It is simply not enough to have ammunition, nor does it matter if you have it in abundance. A million bullets that miss are infinitely inferior to one that hit its target. The ultimate form of a genius is one who possess a keen aptitude for intelligence and smartness.

However, there exists many types of bullets in this world. Ergo, there are also abundance of guns as well. Life may be a singular term, but it encapsulates a plethora of experiences available to one's senses. It is a one that carries all.

But all for one is not necessarily the same thing as one for all.

Capturing several branches of information while calculating numerous possibilities, Fang's eyes scour one side of the workshop in seconds.

Characteristic of genius is the ability to filter out unnecessary information from the environment. In and of itself, it is no trial feat. Concentration is a necessary component of life. What is more important however is the degree to which one can harness that concentration. The mind can only process so much at any given time, so it would stand to say that the more intelligent are better able to extract information regardless of their surroundings.

While the environment may contain many occurrences, simply put, not everything you see has relevance. From an objective view point, it is inaccurate to assume that every bit of information readily available has importance. This is further evident by perception, which is by definition what one can perceive using their senses.

Senses are limited. By design, life is only allowed a certain vestige to their surroundings. To gain more, you must search more. However, that does not change the fact that it is simply better to be wise with what is available to you.

Intelligence is the torch that allows you to walk through a dark chasm. With time, the torch will eventually die out. Higher intelligence is the ability to determine the best of benefits within the shortest amount of time. Genius is being able to do it with a lack of effort.

Omnipotence is doing so without the need of a torch, but that is another topic.

By design, we are not omnipotent. By design, we need a light to function through the darkness. One might carry a powerful torch, but no one carries a torch powerful enough to light the entire labyrinth.

Without really thinking too deeply, something caught Fang's attention in .23 seconds. Fang had encountered Tails in various altercations. With his attention to detail and functioning memory, he should be able to recognize what the young boy looks like down to the slightest detail. The amount of strands on his forehead, the number of whiskers on his mouth.

The rounded shape of the tip of his sneakers.

From a distance, Fang held his gun with both hands at the cerulean sheet. A cold and calculating grimace appeared across his face.

 _Kid's about two eight. The only way he could fully fit under that table was if he was slightly crouched down. I can't tell what his position is with what I see. If I could visualize what it was, I could just hit him in a spot that won't hurt him enough to not be able to work but I don't want to waste bullets. I could fire a warning shot to lure him out, but that'd be meaningless._

 _The point is to scare him into doing what we want. Little bugger's already frightened, hence why he's gone into hiding in the first place. No need to overkill. Just lure him out with that ol' sharp with of yours._

"Nice hiding spot, kid," Fang said sarcastically with a smile. "But the jig is up. You can come on out now."

A few second passed. Bark continued to open and close cabinets as Fang blankly stared at the sheet.

"Come on, at this point it's just embarrassing. I can see the bloody tip of your shoe. You're surrounded and your gadgets don't work. None of your bosom buddies are coming to save you and this isn't your last stand. Don't romanticize your rebellion for the sake of it. You'll cut yourself on that edge."

More time passed. Bark looked aside after closing another cabinet. He looked forward and moved over to the left to continue.

"Maybe he's shy," Bean shouted.

Fang slowly squinted.

"Not buying it…" he said almost to himself.

With loud footsteps, he walked over to the cerulean sheet. He reached out with his left hand and left his revolver pointed away from himself. He forcefully yanked off the cover. The sound of it flapping through the air was heard.

"Aha!"

Fang stared at the table. Bark's head turned and his eyes narrowed.

Sitting atop it was a tool box filled with a wrench, a power drill, and a screw driver. Underneath was just a pair of white sneakers with red heels.

Bark's gaze widened. He quickly turned his head back around and yanked open the final top cabinet. Nothing but plates were seen. He quickly arched his head to the cabinet directly below him. He squatted and pulled it open so hard that he ripped the door off. The hinges and the screws connecting them flew off in different directions.

BANG!

Almost immediately afterwards, he felt a sharp pain in the side of his right knee. His eyes narrowed as he stumbled backwards. As he reached for his injured leg, his right eye focused shifted to the source of his pain.

A two-tailed fox holding a nail gun somersaulted out of the far-right hand cabinet.

The moment he heard the Bark open the cabinet, Fang swung his body around. His gun was already aimed forward.  
 _  
Got you. The cover was obviously a trap taken out of every action movie ever. You had to be in one of those cabinets. You knew that Bark would be the one to search them by hand since he's unarmed. Bark's got strength, size, and hand-to-hand over you. As a search dog, Bean simply isn't as effective. He's the most logical choice for lookout. If you tried to brush past him, you'd be shot down as I noticed you._

 _Plus, in the off chance you did escape, you know he'd send a field of bombs your way. The only exits here face the front yard, keeping you in all our sights. Even if you slipped passed any one of us, you would at the very least be spotted by another._

 _Since I have a ranged weapon, it'd be best if I searched for signs of you from a distance while supporting Bark in case he found you and only acting independently once I confirmed your location. You could tell which one of us was closer and where we were judging by the vibrations of our footsteps and the sounds of our voices. I knew where you were general location was the moment I saw your sneakers, but if you heard me approaching you would have moved to where Bark was to avoid getting shot._

 _I just wish I would have spotted those bloody clown shoes sooner, but oh well. No one's perfect._

 _From the sound of it, you hopped out of the far-right cabinet. That should put you right about…_

Fang quickly brought his left hand on top of his revolver. His gun was already pointed in Tails' general direction. Taking proper aim was only a few fractions of a second away. He set his sights forward and adjusted his body to meet the requirements for his precise shooting.

However, all he saw was Bark's large backside.

"Bark," Fang shouted with an angry look. "Outta the way!"

Upon command, Bark sluggishly hopped to the side using his functional leg. However, the space of the cabinet close to the fridge was empty.

 _Bloody hell, he jumped with him!_

Tails swung up the nail gun and aimed it at Bark's face. The husky polar bear brought his arms up and lowered his chin. Five rounds of nails bounced off his forearms, hitting the walls, sink, and cabinets on either side. A stray nail grazed Tails' right cheek just under his eye, whipping his head to the side and causing him to stumble back. A surge of electricity fired up within Bark's brain, opening the many possibilities that became available to him in that moment.

Out of all of them, he chose to extend his left leg, drilling into the ground with the ball of his foot. Proper punching form would mandate that one put weight into both legs to maximize the flow of power into one's fist. However, straining his injured leg would only make him stumble, leaving him stunned long enough for a counter attack. To compensate, he simply raised his right leg into the air. It wouldn't be as powerful, but this method allowed him to attack quickly enough to avoid being hit and give Fang enough time to close in and immobilize Tails.

Assuming the punch didn't immediately knock out the eight-year-old boy, that is.

Bark cocked his left side back and twisted it forward. With a devastating spring like motion, his arm rocketed towards Tails' chin.

A dull noise of flesh being pounded rang about.

Tails' head flew backwards. His sight became nothing but a colorful blur.

He barely had any time to process what happened.

Bark's fist shot through the air. His eyes widened for a moment.

Still traveling forward, Bark lowered his head. Time seemed to slow down.

He saw the baggy eyed grimace of a tired boy leaning above the floor. Using his left tail, Tails managed to avoid being struck by swinging his body backwards and stopping himself before hitting the floor. In the same motion, he swung his other tail against the second cabinet door. He whipped his body to the left, bending his right leg backwards and clenching all his muscles.

Bark's massive frame was launched diagonally by a devastating side kick to his ribs.

With his weight already poured into his foot, Fang's eyes widened.

 _Oh FU—_

"Urk?!"

A white flashed filled his vision.

With a cracking noise, a dense, pale yellow elbow sunk into his nose. Bark's body crashed into table, the back of his head being bashed into the tool box, slamming Fang's back against the wall and pinning down. His thoughts scattered, his concentration shattered.

"Wuh-oh," Bean said to himself from the roof. He kicked passed some remaining shards of glass from the broken window and slid inside. With a thud, he landed about two feet behind Tails. The young fox's brow scrunched in a frustrated surprise. He began to swing his body back, his head only catching a glimpse of the green duck. By that point, Bean had already pressed his left foot into the floor and pressed off his left. From a low angle, he fluidly carried his bent right arm to Tails' face.

With a surprisingly flawless form and an eerie smirk, Bean positioned himself to deliver an uppercut.

The sound of air being sliced filled the area. Then the smacking of flesh immediately followed.

This time, Tails could not avoid being hit. He grunted as he stumbled to the right.

"Urgh!"

He was, however, able to turn his body fast enough to whip his tails across Bean's abdomen. Like a child throwing a rubber ball, Bean's body effortlessly flew backwards and crashed into the wall. He then slid to the floor.

Bean gripped the wall with an unsteady left hand to lift himself up. He looked forward with his right eye barely open. He could barely make out Tails regained aiming his nail gun at his face. His eye widened.

Three bangs.

Three nails pinned Bean to wall by his red handkerchief.

Tails swung his body around and started running towards the immobilized Bark. Fang managed to lift the polar bear's heavy arm with his right wrist and left hand. But Tails already had his nail gun pointed aimed at him.

Then something else caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. There was a factor that had no place in this battle. In fact, it was very specifically mentioned that it was not allowed to take form in the fight unless it escalated up to a certain point. Otherwise, it would defeat the purpose of the entire operation.

A black canon ball with a small, lit fuse on top was airborne a few feet behind Tails.

"Bean," Fang quickly shouted. "Not indoors!"

With a not so embarrassed look, Bean scratched his chin with his right index finger.

"Uh," he said. "Whoops…"

Tails then dived to the ground and reached for his back with his left hand.

The lit bomb was headed right towards Bark and Fang, the former who was still recovering from being disorientated. It was only about four feet away from them. An incredible strength shot through Fang's left arm along with a surge of circulation. He lifted Bark's arm.

That thing explodes on rough contact!

With a nervous look and an awkward position, he took steady aim at bomb heading his way.

BANG!

Fang's arm shot up due to recoil. As a result, Bark's arm slipped from his grasp and blocked half his vision.

A bullet shot through the air and hit a spot a foot above Bean's head. In the process, it snuffed out the fuse.

Then the bomb stopped moving midflight.

Confused, Fang raised an eyebrow. He poured his entire upper body strength into both arms to lift Bark's thick forearm.

He only caught the last few seconds of it.

The young genius known as Miles "Tails" Prower smiled pridefully at him. It portrayed the kind of pride one displayed when they had the odds totally worked out in their favor.

As he laid on his stomach, he held the bomb above his head between his two tails. From his left hand, something was pointing at it. Fang traced his sight across his skinny, orange arm.

A small, blue flame shot out. The sound of a fuse shortening soon followed.

Tsssssssssssssss…

Fang's pupils shrunk. He felt sweat pouring down his snout and the sides of his head.

 _Get real!_

Even so, he held his revolver forward. But by the time he did so, the bomb was already tossed out of sight. Tails had intentionally flung it at Bark, whose body blocked off a majority of Fang's sight from the left.

With savage strength fueled by adrenaline and a smidgen of professionalism, Fang elbowed Bark in the ribs, shifting his upper body to the side. The bomb was again in his sight. More importantly, the fuse was still long enough for him to hit. It was even closer to him than it was before. Despite his fear, he shifted his body to the right and swung his arm.

He fired his gun. The bullet struck the round top of the sink.  
 _  
Bloody hell…you've gotta be pulling my flippin' tail…_

But he missed.

Sweat had poured into his left eye and startled him. This caused him to shift his body at the last second. His most refined aim was disbalanced because of a minor adjustment.

Out of the corner of his open eye, he looked at Tails once again. That smug smile sunk deep into his persona.

Un-flippin-real. There's no way he could have known that'd happen. It had to be dumb luck…

 _ **No.**_

"?!"

Fang swung his head around. He was surrounded by an endless pitch black. Suddenly, a large, fox head with glowing red eyes appeared.

" _ **It's simple,**_ " he said with a smug smirk. He suddenly moved in closer at an alarming speed. This motivated Fang to get up. He ran at top speed. He huffed and puffed, expelling a white steam with each breath. But it wasn't because he was tired.

He turned his head around. The head seemed to slowly close in on him with each step. He turned back around and reached speeds he never thought possible. He turned his head back around only to see that the massive head sped up as well.

Then he tripped.

He turned around and crawled backwards. The fox head slowed down as he approached him. Fang whipped his arm in front of him.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Every bullet swerved around the giant head.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

"Dammmmiiiiiiiit…"

With a frustrated look and on the brink of tears, Fang nervously reached into his holster and grabbed a handful of bullets. He gripped one between his index finger and thumb but his hand shook so much that he ended up dropping everything. He crawled forward and reached out to it.

He heard a light gasp. Something slapped his hand away.

"The devil…?"

The revolver sprouted a shapely pair of pale, feminine legs with red heels. It stood up and turned around. A girly pair of eyes appeared above the chamber.

"Sorry," she said in a tone that could be called condescending. "I only let guys who can aim right hold me. Come on, kids. We're going back to live with uncle Clint."

With a youthful hurrah, Fang's bullets sprouted stubby legs of their own and jumped out of his holster. They followed the sultry revolver into the eternal nothingness. Even after they were long out of sight, Fang continued to stare at the empty space where his one true love once stood.

The giant fox head's gaze returned to the paralyzed sharp shooter.

" _ **Dude,**_ " he said. " _ **You've got issues. Seriously, that was some totally f* #ed $#*%.**_ "

Fang's head shot up. Tears began flowing from his eyes. He gritted his teeth and shouted.

"What the hell just happened?!"

" _ **Oh.**_ " The fox head looked aside as if it had just remembered something. " _ **About that…**_ "

It zoomed into the frightened weasel's face. With a smug smile and a half open eyes, it spoke.

" _ **You just missed your target**_."

The bomb closed in on them. The fuse wasn't even visible anymore. Fang angrily screamed at the top of his lungs.

Then Bark swung his fist. Soon after, the bomb hit him in the abdomen with a loud smack. It rolled into his lap. But an explosion never came. Confused, Fang narrowed his eyes.

Fang's screaming seemed to bring Bark back to his senses. Immediately after, Bark threw a cross just above the bomb, blowing out the fuse with the turbulence.

Tails propelled his tails at high speed to lift himself into the air. He started to aim the nail gun down, but two bullets knocked it and the blow torch out of his hands.

A third bullet struck him in the chest, knocking him across the floor with a thud. Soon after, Bean yanked his body off the wall with a loud ripping noise. Bark then hoisted himself up a lightly placed his foot on Tails' stomach. He struggled and kicked about, and even swung his fists against it. But Bark simply stood there, staring at him with an indifferent gaze. Bean walked over and leaned down with a goofy smirk.

A pair of footsteps approached him and stood between the two. The look on Fang's face was one of spiteful, quite rage. He looked at the unfazed young boy's scowl for a few seconds. Then he slowly raised his revolver. He aimed it at his forehead. He cocked the chamber back with his thumb.

He only said one thing. It seeped out of his mouth like one's breath a chilly day.

"Bang."


	5. Chapter 5

With a frustrated look on his face, Tails looked forward with his baggy eyes.

 _I can't believe I was beaten by these idiots._

Bean hummed as he walked around him with a gray duct tape.

"You spin my beans round baby right round," he said in a melody. "Like a record bean, right round, round, bean."

Fang scowled at him as he leaned near the sink, slowly placing bullets in his revolver.

"If you're going to keep perverting popular jingles," he said. "Then you can wait in the Marvelous Queen by yourself."

"I'm fine with that. I can learn a whole bunch of new songs on the radio. Plus, that means you trust me around your bike/jet thingy."

"…Just shut yer trap for now."

"Okay. Hmm hmm hmm beans hmm hm hm hmm hmmm, like a hm hm bean, right, hmm, hmm bean."

After reloading, Fang raised the base his gun to his face, closed his eyes, and sighed. Leaning on the fridge, Bark rolled his eyes and smiled.

"OK," Bean said jubilantly. "All done!" He pressed his index finger and thumb together then kissed them and released it. He shook his hand as he talked. "That's a one-a-spicy duck tape you got-a-there!"

Tails squinted at him. He then turned to Fang.

"Is he always like this or is it a holiday or something?" he asked.

"You don't know the half of it," Fang said, exasperated, as he walked over to Tails. "Now, let's get down to business…"

"What do you freaks want?"

"Freaks?" Fang folded his arms and chuckled. "Cute, but you're the last one that has the right to call anyone that. As I was saying, we came here in requirement of your services. You have a particular set of skills that doesn't seem to fall within our collective resume. So, we were hoping you could fill that gap with that big, beautiful, brain of yours."

"If you wanted a favor, you could have just, oh, I don't know, walk up to the door and ask like a civilized animal person. But pardon me if I'm not feeling like in the serving right now." A smug smirk appeared on his face. He raised his arms and bared his palms. "I seem to be tied up mood at the moment."

"Heh. Yeah, figured you'd say something like that. So, we came here with a little preposition."

Tails yawned, then raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" he said.

"Give us what we want and then we'll be out of your fur. Simple as that. Don't, and well…" Fang pressed the tip of his gun into Tails' right ear. "Yeah."

Tails looked annoyed. He didn't say anything.

"S'matter? No smart aleck comeback this time? I swear, you were never this much of a wise guy before. I mean, you are in the traditional sense of the words, but I digress. Must be big blue finally rubbing off on ya."

"Yeah," Bean said. "Why is the saying called 'wise guy' when it implies a lack of wit?"

Fang squinted.

"It's supposed to be sarcastic, Bean," he said, irritated.

"But if you're talking to a dumb person, then sarcasm is the last thing you should be using. Idiots can't understand such advanced nuances as easily. I mean, hellllloooo, they're stuuuupiiiid. They don't get things."

"I don't get you."

"You don't know how much that means to me. Also, did you just call yourself stupid or are you being sarcastic? It's hard to tell sometimes."

"You won't hurt me," Tails finally said.

"A little too late to be making those kinds of assumptions, mate."

"No, it's not." Tails turned his head to face Fang. The gun ended up being pointed between his baggy eyes. "You came here because you wanted something only I can supply. If you did anything that would impede my ability to provide it, that would defeat the purpose of this little game of house."

"He's got you there," said Bean with his index finger and thumb under his bill.

"Noooot quiet," Fang said with a smile. "You see, we know you're a genius and all but you're not the only one in the world. Even if you refuse our demands, we can just ax you and move on to the next egg head. Or did you think knowing so much made you some special little snowflake?"

Tails remained silent.

"Then why did you come here in the first place?" he asked. "I'm a Freedom Fighter. If you kill me, my team, especially you know who, would stop at nothing to avenge me. And not to brag, but I've got plenty of friends in high places. You'd never get away with it."

"Buddy. We 'get away with it' every single day. G.U.N.'s never been able to track us. Your little club house superhero group never caught us. It wouldn't matter if it suddenly became more personal. Although, I'd hate to deal with Blue to be frank. He really rubs me the wrong way.

More like you can't land a hit on him.

"We're master thieves. We operate underground. We'd fall of the face of the Earth and they'd spend the rest of their frilly little lives searching for us. Or they'd wise up and quit while their ahead of themselves. Even Big Blue gets pretty impatient pretty fast, as I'm sure you know very well. We only came here because you were the first one on our list."

"…That can't be the only reason. If I'm not the only scientist within your reach, then it makes no sense to come to me, one of your recurring enemies, first."

"Yeah, we're not really that deep into the whole genius scene. You're the only other guy we can trust, so to speak."

"And Eggman?"

Fang's smile dropped. Tails slightly lowered his head.

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's just as smart as I am. Except he's got access to more resources than I do and could probably do a much better job at finding additional ones too. In fact, you're closer to him than you are to me. After all, I'm sure you've never had to make this kind of house call to him seeing as he regularly fills your wallets."

Nobody said anything else for a while.

"Because, genius," Fang said. "As I'm sure you also know, he's running a bit low on resources. So, he's out of the question."

"Huh." Tails looked forward as his baggy eyes widened. "I guess you're right." He then turned to Fang with a suspicious look. "So, did you find that out before or after you had a little chat with him?"

"…"

"You just said I was at the top of your list. That implies that I was the first person you came to or at the very least the first one you thought of. In either case, it doesn't make sense to seek out anybody else. You wouldn't because you had nobody else in mind, like you implied. So, how would you know that he's running low on resources?"

"…"

"I'm sure you guys are acquaintances, but I doubt he's the kind of guy who'd call you at 2:30 in the morning to discuss his feelings."

"…"

"So, right after a humiliating defeat, you just so happened to strike a conversation with him? I mean, how often do you call him for work? You guys are freelance, right? The calls come to you, I'm assuming. Going out in the open is a bad way to maintain a low profile, especially when you're wanted for several offenses by the world government."

Fang grabbed Tails by the fur on his chest and pulled him close. His gun jabbed into his forehead.

"I don't know where you got that smart mouth," he said coldly. "But in the underground world, that's a guaranteed way to bite the bullet."

"We're not underground now, are we?"

The two viciously stared each other down.

Bark silently observed them from the fridge.

"Jerry, Jerry," Bean said as he stomped his right foot on the ground with each word.

Fang almost threw Tails after letting him go, sending the chair rocking backwards. Bark stepped in and grabbed the tip of the chair and slowly pushed forward.

"Truth is," Fang said with his back turned. "I'd rather not see you dead. If I'm being frank, I kind of like you."

Tails raised an eyebrow.

"I find that extremely hard to believe," he said.

"Figured as much. But, and hear me out on this…" Fang turned his head slightly to reveal a devilish smile. "You and me. We got a great deal in common."

"I find that even harder to believe."

"Now hold on, don't be so quick to judge. Although, that might be a little difficult with that noggin of yours. Yeah, when you really put in effort, the world never seems to stop spinnin', don't it? Can't be helped. People like us, you and me, we see things through a different lens. We see possibilities others can't and we're either hailed like deities or used up like a hooker's contraception.

"And the thing is, we make it look easy too. Comes naturally to us. These possibilities. Maybe we were born this way. Maybe we worked for it…Nah. This world favor's effort. You don't have the right to move up in life if you're not willing to put in a little blood, sweat and tears."

"You're putting me to sleep."

"Course, with a little genius comes a little case of the ol' nutso, am I right?"

"Annnnd, you lost me."

"Ohh!" Bean said as he raised his right hand. "I've got plenty of nutso! Does that make me a genius?!"

Fang turned to Bean with an irritated look.

"Is a chicken a bipedal vertebrate?" he asked sarcastically.

Bean continued to smile blankly for a few seconds. His eyes narrowed and his mouth began to close. Then he rested his chin on his fist and tensed his brow. Bark simply shook his head.

The answer's yes, Tails thought as he rolled his eyes.

Fang turned back to Tails.

"Like I was saying," he continued. "You see, I've been browsing the 'pedia, giving myself a self-diagnostic…"

"Yeah, don't do that," Tails interrupted.

"And after reading a few other scholarly articles, I happened upon a few interesting conclusions. You might not experience it now since you're young and all, but hoooo boy, are you in for a treat. I'm talking bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, crippling depression. Buddy, big brains bring big problems!"

"Please don't project."

"I mean, come on. Look at some of our greatest artists. Like that Van something or other. Chopped his ear off because he was coocoo."

"Thaaaaaat's racist," Bean said. "Ding."

"And Einstein refused a life-saving operation because he 'lived long enough.' What kind of schuck doesn't want to live a little longer, am I right?"

Kill me.

"And Newton? He's the worse of them. He was so deep into his science thing that he never bothered to get any tail. Can you believe that?"

"…You know, I'm not proud of it but I actually agree with you on that one."

"Right? And let's not forget the good doctor of course…"

"OK, but where is this all going?"

"Right, the big wrap up. My point is, we're gifts to the world. We're one of the very few that can offer new possibilities to this forsaken mudhole that's only good for scouring shiny goodies. It'd be a shame if we lost a bunch of possibilities over a hapstance that happens to be very easy to accomplish. Am I right?"

"…"

"I mean, with all the stuff you willingly throw yourself into and the statistics I just pulled up, you might end up doing yourself in anyway. Man can only take in so much, you know? When you think about it, it makes sense that there's so very few of us in this world. We're at a day and age where information is more readily available than at any other time. And yet people just seem to keep on getting dumber. This should be a world full of people like you and me."

"One of you is already too much."

"I think maybe some people cling on to their ignorance because they're afraid of knowing the truth. Endless possibilities mean endless ways to screw up. And instead of challenge themselves or persevering, they'd rather suckle on that sweet, sweet nothingness. Instead of bettering themselves, they'd rather be simpletons if it means avoiding failure. It's only natural. The brain avoids risk and seeks reward, but that's just a perversion.

"Tails, my not so dissimilar compatriot, this world is full of weaklings. Scum that isn't willing to improve unless they can see the immediate benefits when they should be doing it for its own sake. It's people like that who deserve to be taken advantage of."

"Is that why you steal?"

"No, I just didn't finish school. Tails, this world needs people like you and me. Without us, society would spiral into a pit of madness where the people would choke on their own selfish, hedonistic stews."

"You're really the last person to argue about hedonism."

"Perhaps. Don't take the truth out of what I said though."

Tails silently looked at Fang for a while. The conniving weasel simply smiled at him.

"I'm not like you," he finally said.

"But you are. And eventually, when that youthful optimism fades out and you put on your big boy googles, you'll see the world for what it truly is. Just one big easy target lined up for you because others are too afraid of their own nature. The darkness will dawn upon you eventually. And when it does, if you're not already doing bigger and better things, you might just give me a call and make my day."

"Are you gonna tell me you're my father next?"

"Heh. You can dance around this all you want, kid."

Tails closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He opened them.

"You haven't even told me what you wanted."

"Ah, right. The big hurrah. You see, me and my friends are in a bit of a financial defic—"

"Either skip the anecdote or blow my brains out."

"Fair enough. We want you to make us a Chaos Emerald."

Tails squinted.

"…So, you heard about that."

"Yep."

"You can stick that gun back in my ear."

"Let's not get hasty."

The young fox rapidly rocked his body in the chair, shaking it in many directions.

"Why the heck would you think I'd ever want to do that again?!"

"To avoid breaking the hearts of all your pals and ridding the world of an ever-increasing set of possibilities? And because maybe you'd want to avoid a very painful and agonizing death?"

"Shots to the brain don't hurt."

"Yeah, who's lived to tell that tale?"

"And what would you be using it for?"

"Heh." Fang extended his arms. "Ain't it obvious at this point, kid? We want to sell 'em to the highest bidder. From what we know, your dashing friend was able to invoke Chaos Control using the fake Emerald. Shouldn't make any sense. But why is that? That got me thinking. How did he gain access to a fraction of potential unlimited power with a rip off? Being able to stand with the gods shouldn't be possible for some schmuck with a few gadgets and free time.

Tails' felt and heard a rapid beating from his chest. He refused to let it show in his face but he felt a slight spasm under his right eye. Fang's smile slightly widened.

"Then I pieced it together. According to The Conservation of Energy, energy can't be created nor destroyed. It can only change from one form to the other. All the energy the universe ever had or ever will have is and always will be the same. The Chaos Emeralds are just conduits for, allegedly, all that energy to freely flow. How would one go about providing a sample of that unlimited energy?

"I don't know the specs, not my area of expertise. But I'm guessing you just came up with a few spiffy equations that allowed for a feedback loop of that some of sweet, sweet Chaos energy. Chaos energy exists in every and anything. I don't know how but you looked at a Chaos Emerald and figured out what it would take to replicate its capabilities. And for that, I tip my hat." Fang raised and lowered his hat with the barrel of his revolver. "Mad props to you."

Tails could not hide his cringe.

This is like talking to one of your older relatives that's trying too hard to be cool.

His eyes rolled over to the microwave, specifically the timer.

The EMP still hasn't worn off. I've got my Chu¬2 bombs and Magic Hook armed and ready. Once the pulse wears off, I'll have to get creative if I want to fend these guys off long enough while subtly activating my com link to…

"Oh," Fang said. "By the way, don't bother waitin' to see how long it'll take for that EMP to wear off. It was less of an EMP grenade and more of an EMP seed. It's stationed outside right now and can be remotely activated. Bark's been ordered to flip the switch every ten minutes. Even has a little timer to remind him."

His face grew blank. A cold sensation ran through his cheeks and arms.

"OK, so you figured out my trick," Tails said with false courage. "So, you're gonna sell it to the highest bidder. Except, any idiot with an Emerald radar can figure out that it's a fake. And so can a jewel appraiser that's seen a real one up close. You won't get very far in the long run."

"And that's were your wrong," Fang immediately replied. "You see, we're not trying to con anyone. Nope. We'll be up and front. Imitation Chaos Emeralds for a few grand. Except we won't be stupid about it. We'll have you whip up a batch that's easily breakable and doesn't last forever. Can't have all these idiots running around with all that power forever, y'know? But should worse come to worse, you and your Freedom Buddies can just do clean up like you always do. Business as usual.

"Best part is? Everybody wins. Buyers get their limited unlimited power, the heroes get something to do, and we get paid. Heck, we might even throw you a bone or two if you're interested."

Tails couldn't help but frown. He bit his lower lip.

"What are you saying?" he said. "Even if they don't last forever, giving the scum of the underground convenient access to Chaos Energy would only cause trouble for everybody! Bad guys don't care about other bad guys! They only care about themselves! You can't empower selfish people like that! They'll just snuff out anyone else!"

"Big deal," Fang coldly replied with a smile. "Less for you to clean up, more for us to rake in. Still a win-win. If anyone happens to get caught in the crossfire, you only have yourselves to blame for being too slow."

He lowered his gaze and his eyes darted across the floor. He reached into the vast resources of his mind at maddening speed. But alas, he came up short.

They've really thought of everything…Even if they take me out here, who's to say the next guy won't be as resistant?

An uncomfortable sensation filled Tails' heart. He closed his eyes and lowered his head.

For all my talk, when it comes down to it, I'm not like him. I can't freely give up my life even if it is for the greater good.

Then he smiled. Tears welled up in his eyes.

And here I thought I'd actually come so far from those days of innocently following my heart. In the end, all I can do is give in to it.

"Well kid?" Fang said looking down to Tails. "Whadda say? Deal or no deal?"

Tails closed his eyes, arched his head up, inhaled, then sighed heavily.

"Okay," he said. "I'll do it."

"Hehaha!" Fang patted the back of the chair. "Excellent. I knew you'd come through at some point. Well, let's get started, shall w-"

"On one condition. Actually, make that two."

Tails turned his head and sternly looked Fang in the eyes. The weasel slightly winced but kept his expression.

"Sure thing, kiddo. You name 'em."

"You have to promise to never tell my friends. They probably wouldn't blame me but…I…I can't bear to look them in the face knowing I betrayed their trust."

"Goes without saying. Snitching's bad for business anyway."

"And…" He paused. "You have to make me breakfast."

Fang's smile froze in place. His gaze locked onto Tails who had an intense poker face.

"Hehe…hehehe…"

Fang aimed his revolver at Tails face. Bark quickly stepped in and pulled his hand up while holding him back.

"You think this is a joke, you little brat?! Does this look like Chaos Chefs to you, bucko?! You want me to cook you an omlette with this gun?! You can eat on your own bloody time but until you give us what we want, you can get bent!"

"Look. I am phenomenally tired. I got about five hours of sleep. I didn't have dinner or eat breakfast. And to top it off, The Three Stooges broke into my house, jumped me, and told me some long-winded soliloquy about depression or schizophrenia or whatever. I can barely keep my eyes open and the only thing that's kept me awake this entire time is the fear of you guys ending my life and ruining those of the people I care about.

"You want me to build you WMDs for you to sell on the black market? That's fine. You want me to lie to my friends, who I've known and trusted practically my entire life? Also fine. But you're asking me for too much under these circumstances. The brain requires nutrients, sleep, and patience to function properly, three things which I'm very low on right now. So, either make me the most slamming, fantastic, heart pounding, soul thumping, lip smacking, finger licking, peanut butter! And cucumber sandwich! The world has ever seen! Or! GET! OUUUUT!"

Fang and Bark stared silently at Tails with wide eyes. They exchanged glances and then looked back at the fuming young boy. They both put their hands up.

"Okay, okay," Fang said reassuringly. "Let's just calm down, annnnnd take it easy. No need to use your outside voice 'cuz we're in doors. We'll get started on that sandwich right away, yeah boss?"

"I'm sorry," Bean said. The rest of the room turned to face him. "Peanut butter and cucumber? Yeah, no thanks. That goes against every moral principal of science. I refuse to take part in such apostasy."

"Bean," Fang said lowly before escalating into a shout. "I swear on my bike, my bike Bean…!"

"No, no," Tails said. "He's right. I took it too far."

Laid out on a table was a plastic bag holding sliced blueberry bread, orange juice, butter, cheese, milk, a carton of eggs, lettuce, cupped ramen noodles, a ¾ filled bottle of ketchup, and two bagels.

"What the heck are we supposed to make out of this?" Fang said. "You don't even have peanut butter or cucumbers."

"Be creative," Tails said.

"Argh…Do you even have any herbs or spices?"

"There's some salt in one of those cabinets."

"No thanks," Bean said. "Fang's already got plenty of salt from after you cleaned his clock."

Fang stared blankly at Bean. The green duck smiled at him, pointed at him with both fingers and snapped one at time at them. Then he swung his fingers to the sink.

"I'lllll be over there."

"Have you ever even made breakfast before?" Tails asked. "Or do you steal from soup kitchens too?"

"Soup's not even a breakfast food," said Bean.

"Neither are beans," spat out Fang.

"Beans are a universally applicable meal. They're nutritious, delicious, and suitable for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert."

"You're only saying that because that's all you ever eat."

"Of course, so I'm the perfect spokesperson."

"I don't have any beans," Tails said.

"Then go get some."

Tails attentively stared at Bean. He raised his palms at him, drawing attention to his lack of mobility.

"Even if I did have them," Tails continued. "I wouldn't want them anyway. Regardless of how healthy they are, I'm with Fang on this. I just don't see them as a breakfast food. Maybe if I lived in some sort of back alley and had no other choice."

"Ahaha! Haha…" Bean nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm totally with you on that. Aha…"

Fang turned to Tails.

"Can't we just give you a bowl of cereal and call it a day?"

"Yeah, like that's going to energize me after our little brawl."

"I prefer the term melee," said Bean.

"Then we'll give you two bowls," said Fang.

"That's too much sugar. I'll end up crashing. I need a variety of nutrients in excess to compensate for my lack of dinner as well."

"Then I'll call you a pizza."

"No. It has to be breakfast food. Plus, I get the feelings that you're either going to rob or just not pay the poor delivery person."

"So, you want us to get our chef on and cook you up a nice, wholesome, meal like a bunch of underappreciated nannies."

"It's the only way to get me to help you. Heck, it's the only way I can help you."

Fang released an irritated growl but then he turned to face the table.

"Alright gang," said in an almost depressed mood. "It's chow time."

"That was the most uninspired one liner ever," said Bean.

"Shut up and pass me the eggs."

"In the meantime," Tails said.

That's all he said. Afterwards, his head stooped over and he soundly snored.

Fang repeatedly tapped Tails on the shoulder. His head bobbed and he continued to snore.

"Hey," Fang said. "Wake up. It's chow time."

"Don't you mean," Bean began. "Juice and jam time?!"

Despite their pleadings, Tails snored with a comfortable look on his face. Drool poured out of the side of his mouth.

"Well, I tried. You can't be mad at me."

Bark walked over behind the chair and grabbed the edges with both hands. With tremendous vigor, he rapidly shook the chair in every direction. In the end, it only amounted to Tails' head falling in the other direction.

Tails continued to profusely snore.

"No, no, treasure lady," he said with a smirk and red cheeks. "Tis not the chest of legend I've come to behold."

Fang pointed his gun to the side of Tails' head. He flipped it over and with loud thump smacked him with the barrel. His head stood up straight and his eyes shot wide open.

"I'm not White Beard but I came for some booty!"

"Why don't you start with some egg salad?" Fang said with a smirk.

"Huh?"

Tails looked down at the table. In front of him was a plate of crushed boiled eggs mixed in with some lettuce and noodles with a fork stuck in the middle. On the right of that was a plate of a sliced bagel with butter spread on it. On the opposite end was a plate of grilled cheese between blueberry bread. Between the plates were cups of milk, orange juice, and a bottle of ketchup.

"Bone appetite," Bean said.

Tails closed his eyes and took in time to inhale the aroma. A pleasant feeling filled his head and he already felt energized.

He grabbed the fork and stabbed it into some lettuce and twisted it around the noodles caught up in some eggs.

"Ahhhh…"

Tails leaned back into the chair and rubbed the tape surrounding his belly with both hands. The bags under his eyes disappeared and his fur seemed to gain a shiny hue. In fact, Fang, Bean, and Bark shielded their eyes with their hands.

"His youthful innocence," Fang said. "It's too raw for me to handle."

"We must protect his purity from the perils of this world," Bean said.

"No. He has to learn. He has to grow. That's the only he'll become a ma…"

Fang stared at Bean who had a bowl of burnt cereal with milk in his hands.

"What?" he said before putting a milk filled spoon in his mouth and taking a crunchy bite. "I didn't have breakfast either."

"You ate beans. You always eat bloody beans."

"Which we firmly established as not being a breakfast food, so."

CRRRRRUNCH!

With a messianic like smile and gesture of his hand, Tails turned his head to the trio.

"Thank you," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, you too," said Fang, twirling his gun like a windup. "Now get with the inventing."

Bark walked over to Tails, firmly grasped the right side of the chair and yanked off the left side of the tape with one hand. He then gingerly removed the other side of the tape from Tails' body as to not rip off any fur. Tails hopped off the chair and stretched his elbows, ribs, and leaned forward and backwards. He clapped his hands.

"Right!" he said enthusiastically. Then he turned to Fang and raised an index finger while squinting his left eye. "Only one, teensy, tiny problem."

"If you're expecting room service, you can forget it."

"No, no." Tails waved his right hand in front of his nose as if fanning away a terrible stench. "You see, I've completely memorized how to make a fake Emerald from scratch. Only problem is that I don't have the materials for it."

"Are you flippin' joking…"

"I mean, come on. I only made one, and that was to sabotage a doomsday laser. I never anticipated I'd have to make another one."

"That's actually a fair point," Bean said before taking another bite of the crunchy cereal.

"Great," Fang said, rolling his eyes. Then he extended his arms and elevated his voice. "Freaking great!"

"I see you've learned a new word," Tails said with a smile.

"So you're telling me we came all this way, broke into your tool shed at 6 in the bloody morning, and spent forty minutes making you cupped noodle salad all for nothing?!"

"I…didn't say that. The materials can all be conveniently found in one location. An island about 1200 miles south of here. I can calculate how long it'll take us to get there based on your hover bike's top speed."

Fang did not initially reply. His eyes narrowed in a way that let Tails know he was being observed for suspicious behavior but he didn't seem to care. He innocently stared back at him.

"It took you forty minutes to mix cup noodles with uncooked lettuce?"

"Don't ask."

"He wanted to figure out the microwave on his own," said Bean.

"There's so many freaking options! Pizza! TV Dinner! Soup?! Why does a blazing microwave have a setting for soup?! Is the point not already to warm things up?!" Fang folded his arms and looked aside. "I…had to be sure I got it right to make the best possible meal."

"…Riiiiight. I'll go get my excavating equipment and then we can leave. Although I'm not sure how useful they'll be with a dynamite duck and a polar bear wrecking ball."

"Oh, and the EMP's off. We needed to work get the microwave working somehow. But in case you get any funny ideas…Bark, you and Bean go with 'im. If he does anything crazy, holler at me. I'll take care of the rest."

"You got it dude," said Bean. "Although, I could just explode us if things get too saucy."

"Don't."

"If it makes you feel safer," Tails said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Right this way, fellows."

As the three of them made it to one corner of the lab, Fang observed them while walking towards the door frame. He stepped over the door and walked down the door frame.

Alright, he thought. Something's not right. An hour ago, little bugger was just about ready to blow us straight to the high heavens. Now he's playing nice just because we fed him some food? The cub doesn't strike me as someone so fickle, especially towards someone standing a little further down the morality spectrum.

Fang stared at the dirt on the ground while walking. He paid no attention to the actual contents of the soft ground comprised of various shapes and materials. He stopped at the door to his hover bike and placed his right hand on top of it. His still looked down, practically blind to the scenery before him.

Is he…is he playing us? It's not implausible to think he doesn't have the necessary resources based on what he told us. But his lack of resistance. His immediate compliance…it don't add up to his idiosyncrasies.

He cares about his friends. Why is he so fine with the fact that he's going to be lying to them, especially with the potential to cause destruction on a global scale?

Fang jumped over the door and landed in the cushiony driver's seat. Normally, this would be one the highlights of his day. His mind had long associated being at the helm of his long time hoverbike the Marvelous Queen with feelings of ecstasy and contentment. Aside from being behind the barrel of a gun, being behind that wheel was one of the very few times he truly felt alive.

But in that moment, he felt an odd chilling sensation. Almost like a premonition. His gut told him that something fowl was afoot. But his mind seemed incapable of forming the final piece to that puzzle.

He thought back to the skirmish from about an hour prior. He visualized the approachable fox boy's paternal instinct inducing smile. But then that image smugly glared at him with red eyes. It was a look that portrayed a sense of superiority so great that the target of his sneer was nothing but cheap entertainment. A means to pass the time. And not a very good one at that.

Fang closed his eyes, inhaled, and sighed.

"Tsk."

Yeah right. He's nothing but a goody-goody. He's not some master manipulator. He lives in a world of sunshine and rainbows where everyone gets to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. He's never spent that kind of time in the underground. He's too upstanding.

He doesn't have it in him to straight up lie. Meaning he finally caved.

"Heh."

Fang reached into his right pocket and pulled out a gold key. He put it in the ignition and twisted it. The satisfying sound of the engine starting and the vibration of the hoverbike brought a smirk to his face.

I'll give him that. Kid's a genius. But mechanics is about as far as that goes. Take that away, and he's just some kid.

Sunset Hill, 10:47

The Marvelous Queen halted over a meadow of green grass with zigzag patterns. The land scape was filled perfectly square hills and shuttle loops.

With Tails leading, The Hooligans hopped out of the hoverbike holding shovels and pick axes.

"Bean," Fang said. "Never. Ever. Touch a radio again."

"Admit it," Bean said. "I'm the voice of the generation. A once in a life time lyrical genius bestowed upon to you by the gods themselves. You will respect me."

"It don't take talent to change a few words in a song."

"Alrighty," Tails said. "Sunset Hill is rich in the apollonesian stone. It's the basis for the model the Emerald. This area's chock full of them. All we need are samples large enough to fabricate seven of them like you said on the way here. I already have a machine for the coloring."

"Can't we just blow them up?" asked Bean sounding bored.

"And destroy the valuable resources? No thanks. And since they're kind of rare and form every couple of millennia, I'd like it if we kept the destruction to a minimum. I mean, you can just sabotage yourselves if you feel-"

"No," Fang interrupted. "We're good. Let's get…er…pick axing boys."

"…I think you mean excavating."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Alright then!"

Tails energetically walked over to a large, silver rock with a square pattern on it and struck the top of it with a pick ax. A chunk fell off. He picked it up and placed it in large rubber bag. Bean lifted his pick ax and struck a nearby rock. A spark flew from the impact. Then a spark formed in his eyes.

"Shiny…" he said practically drooling.

Bark looked at his pick ax and dropped it. He put his hands up. With expert form, he quickly but gently tapped a rock with his fist. A large chunk slid off.

From a few meters away, Fang attentively stared at them.

I almost feel bad doing this.

With both his hands, he raised the pick ax over his head.

Almost.

He swung his arms down. But nothing happened. Intrigued, he looked at the shiny silver rock to see that it looked the same as it did moments before.

The devil? I'm stronger than Bean. I shoulda least caused a few sparks…

Fang then carefully reexamined his surroundings. A few key details made him squint.

For starters, he wasn't holding a pick ax any more.

And it was a lot windier than it was a few seconds ago.

He swung his body around and pulled out his revolver in one motion.

Bean seemed to have fallen over onto his chest. Bark faced his direction with his hands held in an offensive stance. Tails pointed to the right with his index finger.

Fang's gaze quickly turned in a 90-degree angle.

Three pick axes fell to the ground.

And a smiling, blue hedgehog leaned against the side of the Marvelous Queen with his arms folded.

"Yo," he said while holding out his hand.

Fang sucked his teeth.

"Sonic the flippin' Hedgehog."

"So, after a good night's sleep, I get up and decide to go on a little morning jog. And then I run into my best friend going rock hunting with a trio of international terrorists. Is this the start of some lame joke or what?"

"Get away from my bike!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

As he shouted, three bullets were fired at Sonic's massive eyes. He was taller than the Marvelous Queen, so a head shot was the most viable option. The first bullet only reached the tip of his nose. Without any real effort, he swayed to the left. With a dancer's form, he kicked off his left leg with his right extended and avoided the second bullet. The last bullet followed the first. His left leg briefly drilled into the ground and sprung off the ball of his foot, taking him out its path of fire.

A trail of dirt and grassed kicked up.

Before he could finish shouting, Fang's revolver was pointed at the sky.

With his left hand, Sonic tightly held the gun between the holster and the chamber.

"Yeah, don't do that."

Fang couldn't properly process what happened that next moment. Immediately following, a dull noise filled his head. There was a brief flicker of light followed by darkness and aching feeling in his nose. He slapped the ground and lost all feeling.

Sonic looked down with a slight bit of shock.

"Huh. Sharp eye, glass jaw. Makes sense when you think about-"

An excruciating feeling exploded from his ear drums. His head whipped to the side. What felt like a powerful gust of wind forced him off balance. His left foot was placed on the tip and his right leg was bent and raised at an awkward angle. His arms dangled forward and he felt like he was falling.

 _Tails—!_

Bean stood a few feet in front of Tails. Most likely, he was caught up in the blast radius and knocked aside.

Using his super strength and vastly superior speed, Sonic stomped, sliding a few inches until he maintained his balance. He rocked his body in the opposite direction with a strong brow.

An orange trail of flames. Some black smoke mixed in. And a green duck with a sadistic smile darting through the air faster than a formula-1 race car.

Bean had his left arm held back straight. A line of smoke followed it.

Their faces were only about two inches apart.

Bean's eyes opened wider than what was considered the norm and his pupils shrank to size of peas. However, before his senses informed him of what happened, he traveled through the air unconstrued.

Sonic leaned all the way to the left, diagonally fixed. Bean continued to fly across the lime colored meadow. His head sunk into the dirt a few feet away.

He swung his torso back upwards but another conundrum demanded his attention.

The point of intersection between a thick, pale yellow forearm and bicep headed directly towards his face. He pieced together what had transpired the very next instant. Take that as far as you may.

 _So, Bean was just a diversion._

As fast as he was, his body still operated under the same laws governing physics as anyone else's. He used enough energy to carry his torso upwards to a maintain a proper standing position. In doing so, he put himself in line for an attack traveling in the opposite direction. Stopping one's body from moving in any given direction is never instantaneous. Even when done fast or skillfully enough, there is still a shift in the vector before coming to a complete halt.

Regardless of his agility and flexibility, his body was at an awkward angle. To avoid the attack, he would have to stop himself, which would still cause some lag, and swing his body in a completely different direction. Energy flows through the body depending on how it is positioned. Simply put, he was postured in a way that wouldn't allow any fluid movements unless he hand enough space. He may have had the overwhelming advantage in every area regarding movement, but even that was useless in the face of an attack he did not see coming.

No one trait within the realm of mortal hands is all powerful.

His best assets had been turned against him.

 _Not bad._

A tremendous smacking literally shook the area. Sonic's body twisted as it darted parallel to the ground.

The right side of his head and forearm felt numb, as if thousands of tiny needles stabbed at them.

With enough space to function, he tucked his limbs to his torso, flipped backwards a few times, stomped on the ground and crouched. Kicking up a massive amount of dirt with his hands and feet, Sonic slid backwards for several feet.

Suddenly, an area of the dust parted in a circular formation. Sonic looked up to see Bark quickly charging in with the intensity of a freight train. The brown mitten that covered his powerful right fist arced down towards his face.

 _Nice try._

Sonic quickly stood up and shot forward in the same motion. He swung his own right hand and twisted his upper body with untraceable swiftness. His palm struck the inside of Bark's arm, slightly guiding it within the grasp of his left hand. In the same motion, his outside elbow struck Bark in the ribcage. A fraction of a second later, his hardened quills sunk into Bark's chest and abdomen. He smoothly whipped his left leg at an arc swept it out. With a firm grip on his arm, Sonic crouched and pulled forward. To finish it off, he kicked his left leg upward.

 _Let's see how you like it!_

Bark was hurled several feet into the air, sent into a helpless dangle.

Sonic whipped his body around and took a step forward.

BANG!

His line of sight was disrupted by another patch of dust and dirt.

BANGBANGBANG!

He heard three more bullets tear through the air. But he could not see where they were coming from. Bullets cannot pierce his skin, but enough of them would eventually debilitate him. In that state, the safety of his best friend would surely be in jeopardy. Any ignorant move he could make was potentially fatal. But from where he stood, he could not discern his opponent's objectives.

He may have been able to process information much faster than normal, but Sonic was no genius. He was just an impulsive thrill seeker. He's maintained that dangerous life style only because up to that point, his enemies failed to take advantage of that fatal flaw. He would reach checkmate up against an opponent that carefully thought things through.

The brain is a fantastic creature. It would do anything within the vestiges of its capabilities to avoid feelings of inadequacy. After all, it is hardwired to seek pleasure and avoid risk. Doing so is no daunting task. If one remains rational in all instances, they will find that the amount of stress in their lives would remain limited.

Yes, everyone is a special snow flake handcrafted by the Divine Designer, or DNA for you atheists and other agnostic fellows, and placed in a totally unique set of circumstances that have never been or ever will be exactly as is. But in mass production, design requires uniformity. Even so called custom models still maintained the same base properties of any other object in the same class. Ergo, all sentient beings are simultaneously similar and dissimilar. We all need to consume nutrients to survive. We all need blood cells to carry those nutrients through the body for energy.

We all need energy delivered to our brains to think.

As the saying goes, great minds think alike. But the same is true regardless of your intelligence. Stupidity is characterized by a lack of breadth of though, ergo following a very predictable series of patterns.

But everything has patterns in them.

From the blue skies to the green grass, there is a script encoded to all facets of existence regardless of one's perception of them. Even the ones hailed as geniuses, as different and varied as they be, follow a predictable path of thought.

Omniscience is simply not in the domain of the mortal, carbon bound lifeform. It may only seem that way to the irrational mind. Such people assume that when one knows a lot, they are knowledgeable in many or all things. Using the rational mind as the basis for thought, all motives become clearer then a sunny day after a storm.

Nobody is out the reach of understanding. One need not have superior intelligence to understand their neighbor. It is such a simple fact that even babies can fathom. The young can relate to each other based on feelings which are evident through facial expressions, posture, tone of voice, body language, and other instinctual cues. It may be due to a lack of knowledge, but they gain an understanding of their surroundings depending on how it makes them feel. This applies to other people. Once you recognize your own feelings, understanding that other people have feelings should become a foundation for your understanding of them.

Even an ignoramus can deduce the motivations behind the actions of superior intellect.

But at some point, a person grows infatuated with their emotions. They become so obsessed with satisfying the need to feel pleasure that it spirals into a fear that they can never feel good enough because of their surroundings. In doing so, they omit the rational thinking process and overcompensate by excessively relying on their feelings. They fear what they don't know and in turn forgo the continual learning process.

But emotions and logic aren't on two sides of the spectrum like pseudoscience would have you believe. They are two separate but necessary faculties of the brain that work in tandem. They are complementary partners, the ultimate tag team.

A purely hedonistic life is a short life. While a too rational life can lead to complications with society and everyday decision making. These two facets work together to maintain an equilibrium necessary for function.

There's a reason people become less receptive to dopamine, that is, the chemical responsible for feelings of happiness, as they grow older. After a certain point, you should have allocated an understanding of the world around you even through elementary pattern recognition. After leaving the safe reins provided by the adults in your life, a rational, educated mind is necessary for survival. That is not to say that one cannot be happy and rational as time goes on. It's just that, rationally, as you become older you should accumulate more knowledge and rely less on your feelings if you want to survive, especially when your body's natural functions slow down.

But acquisition requires effort. Effort does not guarantee success. Fear of the unknown is a common fear, and so those people willingly remain ignorant because they fear what they don't understand. Slowly and surely, the requirements for ensuring survival and happiness become more difficult to blend. Eventually, people tend to omit one in favor of the other.

In more primitive times, failure ultimately lead to death, which bred a failure to continue their lineage, a function that motivates most behaviors. An organism's primary goal in life is reproduction. Anything that aids in it, social status, accumulating of resources, responsibility, brings joy and contentment. Anything that obscures that breeds conflict in the mind.

The brain reacts to stress in a variety of ways. Anger, sadness, fear, pain. These negative feelings serve as motivators to avoid continuation of whatever caused them so one can return to a state of equilibrium. However, due to the brain's natural preference for pleasantries, the simple thing to do when faced with overwhelming opposition would be to give in. Omitting control omits responsibility. If you cannot take responsibility for the outcome, the basis for those feelings of negativity falls in on itself.

When people fail to see an immediate solution, they often turn to submission. Doing otherwise would require recognizing that they can't live in a constant state on content. In the worse cases, even death is preferable to another moment of this inner turmoil for these people.

However, such a notion defeats the purpose of life. One can only be in a deficit of ecstasy when experiencing challenging circumstances. But you can only feel that way because instinctively, you see the value in the world before you. The feelings of negativity stem from being unable to attain contentment for the time being. Giving in is just a short hand way of relinquishing responsibility for what you can do and avoiding negative feelings. It is a heuristic.

You can't solve a math problem by walking away from the board.

People are willing to go through more pain and suffering to avoid pain and suffering when sometimes more pain and suffering is all it takes to avoid more pain and suffering. They're willing to rationalize giving up when that same thought process can be used to carry on. And that fundamentally makes no sense.

While knowledge is a highly valued asset, people tend to rely on what they already know too often. When one fails to reach that understanding, some would opt to go into panic or rejection mode. They relinquish responsibility to avoid feeling like true failures and then they continue living a life of excessive mistakes that could be easily avoided with common sense thinking.

As long as you don't die, you can learn from your mistakes.

It is a simple thought process but many fail to do it.

Optimism, perseverance, vigor.

It takes a certain type of character to stand in the face of overwhelming odds with unwavering determination. Sonic the Hedgehog was such a character.

 _If I were Fang, what would motivate me for blocking my vision and then shooting? He knows that I rely mainly on speed. I try to take the quickest route to defeat my enemies. But even that's too simple of a plan to work every time, so I throw in a bit of misdirection with surprising movements to fool 'em. It's the perfect complement to my skills. He knows this._

 _But at the start of the fight, he shot to kill. A bullet through my big ol' eyes would have probably ended it right then and there. So he's trying to win as quickly as possible too. With his aim, a headshot'd be the easiest thing to do, but with my speed, I can dodge them just as easily. If he knows this, then why would he fire the two additional shots?_

 _I know that the first one is aimed at my eyes. A quick boost in speed should put up an air shield. But, I also have to consider that Bean might me waiting to ambush me. Those bombs explode on rough impact and anything shy of the speed of sound qualifies. A Sonic Boost won't protect me from a collision with an explosion. Avoiding them for now is safest option. But I don't know which way to dodge!_

Sonic was only on his second stride.

 _Wait a nanosec…If he's aiming for my eyes, then that limits the amount of options I can take. Like before, he's shooting in three directions, but this time the delay between shots was smaller. Revolvers have recoil but that can be fixed by placing a sturdy hand above it. So the bullets are also closer to each other than they were before. Judging from how fast the bullets are, they're probably a few inches away from my face. But to catch me off guard, they're most likely in a formation that'll hit me no matter where I side step._

 _I can slide under them, but Bean's bomb could be waiting in that gap underneath. So, the best thing to do is…!_

Sonic took his second step. He somersaulted twelve feet into the air, spinning forwards several times. He noticed a flood of fizzing black cannon balls on the ground.

 _Wait! Revolvers only carry six bullets! That means he…!_

BANG!

"Argh!"

A bullet struck him directly on top of his head. He uncurled and flipped through the air. While spinning, he saw Fang hunched over to the side. Before he could fire, Tails delivered a jumping punch to his jaw. However, he was still able see Sonic out of the corner of his eye and adjusted his aim accordingly. Afterwards, his body spun around and he stumbled backwards.

A throbbing sensation thundered up Fang's skull. He took a slight second to writhe in pain but afterwards, wobbly swung his right arm up. Tails ran right into Fang's line of fire. Even so, he stomped into the ground with his right foot, leaned forward, and shifted his weight in the opposite direction. He clenched his right arm so tightly, it burned.

His fist rotated as it plowed through the air.

But even then, Fang's gun managed to make its way to his left eye.

Still in midair and upside down, Sonic's face spasmed. His fur jumped up. Very few things scared a man like Sonic the Hedgehog, one who constantly swung past death's door like the neighbor paperboy. But the mere thought, the mere possibility that his best friend, the one he had known for all these years, would cease living before his very eyes sent a chill through-out his body.

In less than a fraction of the tiniest part of a second, Sonic kicked forward and spun around.

With a bruised eye, Fang grinded his teeth together with an almost pitiful, desperate smile.

His finger lustfully hugged the trigger.

BANG!

The sound of a bullet reached Sonic's ears. Panic, fear, and dread filled his thoughts. Then frustration. And then anger. It was a profuse rage that oozed from every pore, clogged every artery like years of factory-made, corner store cake consumption. It was a crippling feeling that one simply could not ignore no matter what method of rationalization they used. Entirely consuming his heart.

That is, if he didn't feel so proud.

As he flipped through the air, a smirk formed on the corner of his cheek.

At the last second, Tails used one of his tails to slap Fang's hand downward. The bullet struck a patch of grass several feet behind them.

CRRRRRRUNCH!

At the same time, Tails' fist sunk into Fang's face.

At the same time, Sonic landed.

 **BTOOOOOM!**

At the same time, the bombs next to him exploded.

An intense heat tore into his left side. He landed he couldn't feel the ground anymore. His body hit the slope of a hill. He rolled sideways. His back struck something cold and hard.

With a deafening sound and excruciating pain, he was knocked away into an abyss of darkness.

After an unspecified amount of time, Sonic came to his senses. He slowly opened his eyes with a groan.

The first thing he felt was an intense thirst. It was if it someone lit a match and threw it down his throat. He opened his mouth and heavily panted. His stomach rhythmically moved up and down with each breath.

The second thing he felt was the cold dew of grass massaging his right side. However insubstantial it was compared to the blazing heat, it managed to revitalize him, if only slightly. He rolled over to his stomach. After squeezing a patch of grass, he gritted his teeth and slowly pushed off the ground. His left hand terribly stung and the feeling only worsened the more weight he put into it.

He leaned to the right. He heard a metal clunk and felt another cold sensation. He turned to see The Marvelous Queen. He put his right hand on it and pushed of it to support himself. He eventually grabbed the top of the door to stand himself up. Hunched over, he panted as he stared at the ground.

Now at least marginally conscious, he noticed the awful smell of burning flesh. There was also an annoying ringing in his left ear. The outside of his left glove was shredded, causing the other half to dangle. His left shoe was heavily charred. His entire left side was darkened with various shades of black and red, remission the sight of a cooling volcano.

He looked to his left. He saw three pick axes. He angled his head up.

However recent the explosion was, the smoke was in the process of clearing. He noticed a few silhouettes. His vision was slightly blurry. However, the smoke soon dissipated.

It showcased a frightening image.

Tattered and bruised, Bean knelt with his arms crossed in an X shape, his hands making rock and roll signs. To his left, Bark stood. Tightly held off the ground was a Tails with an apologetic look.

With a sheepish smile, Fang aimed his revolver in his ear.

"Checkmate, hedgehog," said he. "Beat it or the kid gets it."

Sonic stared at The Hooligans stoically. He put his hands on his hips and leaned backwards. His joints popped and he pleasantly groaned. He rolled his head around and cracked his neck. He placed a hand on each shoulder and rotated them one at a time.

He sighed heavily.

"Hey! Did you hear me?! Do you want to see kiddie fox brains splattered everywhere?"

"Calm down," Sonic said nonchalantly. "I heard you. But that's not gonna happen."

"Wanna bet?"

"I would," Sonic shrugged. "But unfortunately, I don't have any rings on me. Odd since I keep running into them everywhere I go. Maybe I should invest in a coin purse. Or a wallet. Do they even make ring wallets? Oh, but then I'd need money to buy it. Man, am I in a pickle."

"I am going to shoot this child and you are going to have to sleep with that on your conscious."

"Fang, buddy, pal, amigo. We just went over this. You won't shoot Tails. In fact, you're going to hand him over to me and we'll just be on our joyous little way."

"It's confidence like that that gets children shot in the skull."

"No, it's dropouts without any marketable skills who do things like that."

"Did you even go to school?!"

"Let's try to stay focused."

"Sonic," Tails said. "If I've ever made you mad, I'm sorry, but pleeeeease shut up."

"Yeah," said Fang. "At the risk of a stupid question, what's making you so sure of yourself? You don't look like you're in any condition to fight back. I could kill you and the brat in .05 seconds if I felt like it."

"I feel like you're exaggerating a little bit, but to answer your question…" A metal tapping was heard. Fang narrowed his gaze. "That's a nice hoverbike you got here."

"…"

"Yeah, I'm not much into mechanics. That's more Tails' thing. I'm sure he could appreciate the geeky bits more than I ever could."

"…"

"What's the horsepower on this thing? Heck, who am I kidding? I don't even know what that means. It just sounded like a relevant question. Not that it matters. I'm like a gazillion miles faster than it anyway."

"What…are you getting at?"

The smirk on Sonic's face widened.

"Oh, nothin'. Just admiring the specs on this thing. She's a real beaut.'" Sonic slowly rubbed the door with his hand, which made a squeaky noise against his glove. He lowered his voice. "It'd be a real shame if something were to happen to it."

Fang did not immediately reply.

"Tshh…tshh! Yeah right! Take a good look at yourself! You look like turd! You couldn't even catch an ice cream truck!"

Sonic kicked up a pick ax and caught it with his right hand. He carelessly swung it around and stopped it just above the parked vehicle.

"Wanna bet?"

Fang's shoulders tensed.

"You're bluffing," he said.

"I'm not."

"I'll ice the brat in a heartbeat."

"That's all the time I need."

"You'll be crying to your girlfriend about this for the rest of your life."

"She's not my girlfriend…"

" _Don't_ make me do this!"

"Do you _really_ want to find out why they call me the fastest thing alive?"

A stalemate. Silence. A grin. A grimace.

Even if the solution to the problem was within arm's length, the mind would still favor the less stressful outcome. All or nothing, as the saying goes. It takes a certain character to stand in the face of overwhelming odds with unwavering determination.

A sigh. A dropped arm.

"Alright, alright...You win. Let him go, Bark."

Fang the Sniper was not such a character.

At least, not today.

Tails ran over to Sonic's side and hid behind him. Fang stared stoically at the two in defeat. He twirled his gun and threw it inside the holster.

"Come on gang. We're out."

"Awwww, what?" Bean complained. "But it was just getting good."

"Shut up, Bean."

The trio walked towards the Marvelous Queen. When the five of them intersected, Tails turned to look at Fang. He didn't return the favor, but he glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Sonic simply folded his arms and smiled as the three walked by.

"I thought you were called The Hooligans," Sonic said.

"I don't know where that came from."

S'not a bad ring to it though, he thought.

The Hooligans hopped in their respective seats of The Marvelous Queen. Fang put the key in the ignition. The Marvelous Queen floated a few inches above the ground.

Fang turned to look at Tails.

"Hey kid."

"Yeah?" he innocently replied, like any child would to an elder.

"Tell me. I'm a little irked at this outcome since we came so close. Did you know he'd show up, or was it just a coincidence?"

Tails simply smiled.

"Of course. Not that it matters."

Fang did not reply. He just continued to stare.

"Either way, you completely underestimated me. I'll admit it. You got me good earlier but that was with the three of you but you still made too many assumptions. It would have been wise to assume the worse and think that I was playing you but you gave up on the notion in favor of generalizing. You assumed certain qualities I possessed, like my boyish innocence, meant I wouldn't mislead you even though I've been misleading you from the moment you came through the door.

"For all your talk about understanding me, you placed me into a category of archetypes to bring me to a level you're willing to accept. You blinded yourself for the satisfaction of believing you made a good call and that led to easily avoidable mistakes. Fang, you're brilliant, but you fell for the same trap that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. You could say you…"

Tails narrowed his eyes. An oddly familiar and eerie smile appeared on his face.

"...missed your target."

Fang did not wait another second. The Marvelous Queen hovered higher above the ground and rode away on the emerald green grass.

Sonic placed his right arm around Tails' shoulder. He put his left hand on the side of his mouth.

"Any time you want some target practice," he shouted mockingly. "Give us a call! Look us up in the phone book! We're the Freedom Fighters! You can't miss us!" Sonic then turned to Tails. "They still make phone books, right?"

"I don't know man," Tails said. "Reading's for nerds."

"I like reading."

"…Nerrrrrrrrrd."

Sonic lightly shoved him. He chuckled.

"But seriously…Are you okay?"

"What, these?" Sonic pointed at his body with all his fingers. "Just a little third degree burns and tinnitus. I'll be good as new after a little lunch and a power nap."

"I think I have some food in my fridge. You won't believe the kind of day I had."

"Yeah, you have to tell me how this escapade happened."

"I will, but in exchange, I have to request a solid."

"What's up."

Tails pointed at the meadow behind him.

"Can you give me a ride back to my workshop? The Tornado's back at the shop and I'm reallllllllly tired."

"Heh. Sure thing, buddy."

With that, Sonic picked up Tails, his pick axes and shovels, and ran ahead at Mach 7 speeds.

A few miles east of Sunset Hill, 10:59

With his arms folded behind his head, Bark stared at the vast ocean whirling by from the right passenger seat of the Marvelous Queen. On the opposite side, Bean held an unlit bomb in his lap and rubbed it like an expecting mother.

What a day, Fang thought from the driver's seat. Who'd have thought the brat had it in him to lie like that?

Fang stared indifferently to the ocean ahead.

Just when you think you've seen it all, life comes at you with a bat to the back of the skull.

"Well," he said. "That was fun."

"Sure was," Fang said dryly. He pressed a button on the dashboard. A green phone icon appeared on a screen. A few seconds later, a voice answered.

"Why hello there."

"Mission's complete, doctor."

"And I take it you failed miserably?"

"Not in the way I'd like, but yes."

"Excellent."

Bean turned his head to the dashboard.

"Was that supposed to be a pun?" he said.

"No Bean. Not every word that sounds like "egg" in the beginning is a pun. I'm not that kind of villain. I'm more of the menacing, sophisticated type."

"Yeah, okay…" said Fang under his breath.

"What was that?"

"So, how's part two going along?"

"Ohhhh, swimmingly, I'd say. Our little castle crasher is having the time of his life. His _excessively_ , long life might I add."

 _Get a room you two,_ Fang thought but had the sense not to say out loud.

"As long as we get paid, who cares about the state of the world anyway?"

Mystic Ruins, Tails Workshop, 11:06

Sonic screeched to a halt on a path of dirt a few feet away from entrance Tails' workshop. He let Tails down and they walked inside. After stepping over the unhinged door, Sonic's eyes shot open in shock.

"Geez," he said. "You have a party I wasn't invited to?"

"I tried contacting you," said Tails as he grabbed a seat at a table. "But those bums brought an EMP."

"..."

Tails noticed Sonic worriedly staring at him. He waved his hands in front of him.

"But it all worked out in the end, so it's okay!"

"…It's really not." Sonic looked aside. "Now they're bringing the fight straight to our front doors. Literally."

"Technically, I don't live here."

Sonic looked at the fridge and microwave then glared at Tails.

"Although, I do spend an awful lot of time here…"

"An EMP isn't something they'd think of ahead of time. This has Eggman's stink written all over it." Sonic turned to Tails. "Whatever he's planning is already in motion."

"It'd be great if we knew what it was."

"Yeah, no kidding..."

Tails gently placed his head on the table.

"But you can't know everything…"

Sonic continued to stare at the battered workshop with his arms folded.

"Like we need to. Just give it time and it'll all come to light. Especially with that big, beautiful, brain of…"

Sonic turned around to see Tails drooling with his eyes closed. A smile appeared across his face. He picked up the shelf, neatly organized its contents, and threw the broken frame and glass into the trash, grabbed a cerulean sheet and pillow lying on the floor and placed it over Tails' back in about two seconds. He lightly patted him on the back.

"Good morning," he whispered.

He picked up the door, stepped backwards and gently left it in frame.

But before he could let go, Amy's voice screeched from his wrist communicator.

"Sonic!" she said in a panic. "Come quick!"

Sonic rolled his left glove up and blankly stared at his wrist.

"…Excuse me?" he said.

"Castle Acorn is…" An explosion cut her off, creating immense feedback. Sonic's gaze widened.

"What was that?!"

Despite his questioning, there would be no reply until a few seconds later.

"Son...ic…AH—!"

"Amy? Amy?! Amy!"

Static. No response. Amy's icon disappeared from the screen before his eyes.

Sonic turned around and kicked down the door. Tails' upper body sprung up.

"Lady, do you really know what a poop-deck is?!" he shouted.

"…Wha…?" Sonic said confused before shaking quickly his head. "Not important. Tails, we gotta go. Fast. Castle Acorn's under siege!"

Tails' eyes shot open.

"What?!" he said with a look of terror on his face.

"That's all I know! Come on!" Sonic ran over and picked up Tails. "We gotta bounce!"

"Wait!"

"What do you mean wait?! Amy and the others are—!"

"Sonic, just—just wait a sec."

Tails set himself down and pressed a red button next to the fridge. Part of the floor on the opposite edge of the room opened and revealed a flight of stairs. Tails ran down.

"Tails?!" Sonic shouted in confusion.

He would return fifteen seconds later with a yellow emerald in his right hand.

"Let's warp there using this," he said. "It'll come in handy."

"The fake Emerald? Good thinking! Give it here!"

Tails ran over to Sonic and handed him the artificial Emerald. Tightly gripping it in his right hand, Sonic raised it up.

"Chaos—!"

In a yellow flash of light and distorted sound, they vanished.


	6. Episode 6 Part 1

Unknown Place, Unknown Time

In a dimly chasm lit by, a crystal ball rang like an old telephone. It flickered in sync with the ringing.

A pair of glowing, yellow eyes slowly opened.

"Speak," said a slithering voice.

A bald man with blue glasses appeared.

"Get—" he began before being cut off by static

"What was that?"

"I said— *BZZZZKTSH!*"

"One moment." A massive claw diagonally slammed on top of the crystal ball twice before pausing and practically smashing it a third time.

"Can you hear me now?" asked Dr. Eggman.

"Yes, yes. You have the floor."

"Seriously? Dial up? In this day and age? Get with the times, man."

"Get a diet."

"Cute, but shut up and listen for a moment. Those morons are keeping Tails busy and Sonic's nowhere in sight. But that could change at any moment so we don't have time to waste. You have your assignment. Get busy."

"Mind your tongue, boy. I hope you realize the full extent of this alliance."

"Indeed, I do. And I hope you realize the full extent of my wrath if you speak to me like that again."

"Don't screw this up and I might just forget about that little slip of your slithering tongue, you scaly, horned freak."

Afterwards, the crystal ball blinked and went blank.

Some horned dude in a cloak slowly stood up. He turned around and walked towards the exit. A wave of his right hand revealed sharp, gloved fingers and all the torches in the room blew out.

Seconds later, his figure emerged from the shadows at the large, circular exit of a cave. Several crows were gathered around the top and bottom. He walked to the edge and basked in the scenery as his cape flapped in the slight breeze. The spooky pumpkin shaped mountains left him with an odd sense of belonging.

Yes, he thought with a somewhat longing expression. He gazed at the unmoving smile carved into stone was miles away from him. We are…the same.

He inhaled for a long time, then sighed as if to release a good smoke. He crossed his arms then abruptly jerked them to his sides, causing his cape to loudly whip the air. With several overlapping cries, the crows dispersed into the foggy scenery in all directions.

We are symbols of fear.

He took a few steps back onto a magic circle drawn in chalk. An odd symbol that could easily be mistaken for scribbles appeared in the center. They appeared to be the same strange writings from the walls of his chambers.

"And with fear," he said with a snake like essence to his voice. "Comes change."

In a purple flash of light, he vanished.

Knothole Kingdom, Entrance Gate, 08:13

At the massive entrance of the most affluent kingdom in the world, two Acorn Kingdom guards stood with their arms folded behind them, their sabers sheathed. Despite being the lowest rank, they brought with them the same natural air of authority and royalty that came with the monarch. Passersby usually greeted this type with respect and if not that, fear. Regardless of the obvious weaponry they freely wielded, they still represented a force much greater than any one member. Trifling with that power usually led to consequences many had no chance of dealing with.

Sheila, a pink, indigo-eyed sparrow, shut her eyes and sighed. Opposite her right Bensen, a lime green, orange-eyed gopher tilted his head

"S'up?" he said.

"Nothing," she said dryly as she stared to the ground, bored.

"It's never nothin'."

There was a little over 30 seconds of silence before she spoke.

"It's just...it's nothing."

Bensen sucked his teeth and glared at her like he was going to smack her.

"I'll never get why women just say things but then don't mean 'em. If it's nothin', you wouldn't've brought it up and you wouldn't sound so depressed. If you jus' want my attention, then shut it because we've got a job to do. But if something's got you so bent out of shape it's got you poutin' and sobbin', then just say somethin'."

Sheila raised an eyebrow and looked at her irritated cohort who placed a hand on his hip like a sassy mama. Then she smiled and waved her hands.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh…If it's really got your panties in a knot." That comment bared its fangs as Benson's expression stiffened. Sheila's however slowly softened and her voice dimmed. "I'm just…so...bored."

"Good. Boring's good. You know why school's do boring? 'Cuz it's so gosh darn good."

"Yeah but—when you joined the guard, didn't you expect—I don't know, more?"

"More than what?"

"More than this. Day in and day out, all we ever do is patrol the kingdom or stand by on guard or do drills or whatever. It's the same thing every day. And I mean every single day. There's no sense of fulfilment, of accomplishment. We just do what we're told with no questions asked."

"…And?"

"And, I don't know!" She glared at the ground with a disappointed expression. "When I signed up, I figured I'd find excitement. A thrill. You, be out there kicking butt like Sonic. And. And not only that but a sense of belonging and purpose. But most importantly, variety. All the commercials show the troops doing cool things overseas or behind the scenes or even making children smile just by giving them toys or food.

A bitter look slashed her across the face as she turned her gaze aside.

"But all we ever do walk around looking tough just for some punk in a crown. We fight battles we don't agree with and we take orders against our moral code. I hate to sound cliché, but this isn't what I signed up for. All this quite, walking around and looking all serious? It's boring."

The gopher scratched his chin for a while before speaking.

"I think I know what your problem is."

"Eh?"

"You're an idiot."

The sparrow put a hand on her hip and turned her head.

"Excuse me?"

But Bensen had already entered full powered nagging mode. The gopher hunched forward and raised a finger as he fired his unblockable attack with a very cheap status ailment of guilt.

"No, no, you're not excused. First of all, the military isn't some after school club. If you're lookin' for a thrill, that's fine. Insane, but fine. But don't do somethin' as major as signin' up for the army of richest kingdom in the world if you're not willin' to do a little grunt work. That comes with the terratory.

"Do you even know what an army's for? We live to serve the people. Everything we do is an extension of obtainin' peace. You see all this? All this borin' you keep yappin' about? That's the end goal. That's what people like us and Sonic fight for. You can only complain about it because of people like us bein' around.

"You want some entertainment? Go to the arcade. Pick up a sport. Read a dang book, any booj. But right now, we're doing somethin' much bigger than ourselves. So buck up, or shut up.

"Okay, okay!" After her HP reached 0, she breathed an irritated sigh. "Stab me in the chest, why don't you? I was just saying we could stand to lose the routine every once in a while."

"That don't even matter. Ain't no reason to change somethin' if it works."

"If only life were that simple…By the way, is that how you talk to all the ladies? It's no wonder you're still single."

"I ain't pulling my punches to spare your feelings."

"Assertiveness is okay, but don't cross over into jerk territory. It's really unattra—"

A stern English voice over some static interrupted them.

"Sheila, Bensen. There's nothing wrong with fraternizing but you're losing focus. Give me 1000 crunches and 40 laps around the kingdom when your shifts are over. And if I have to repeat myself, I'm adding shuttle loops to the mix. You like that? Those loopty loop things will shred your abs."

"Yes sir, Sargent Geoffrey" they miserably groaned after being placed on timeout by the mean old teacher who likes cats.

"Excellent. Also, Bensen, loosen up a bit. Ladies don't like it when you're so stiff."

"Uhhh..." began Bensen. "Ssssir—"

"50 laps."

With a static sound, the voice ceased. There was silence for a few seconds.

"This is all your fault!" whispered Sheila.

"That's applesauce and you know it," spat back Bensen. "You're the one that was yappin' so much."

"Is that supposed to be another sexist comment?"

"Is it sexist if it's true?"

After her HP reached the negatives, Sheila scoffed and folder her arms.

"At least I don't sleep with an anime body pillow."

"Oy. You leave Lisanna out of this."

"Annnnnd you named it."

"No, that's her name from the show."

"Pillows don't have genders."

"You talkin' a lot of smack right now."

Soon after their rematch after the timeskip, they both felt a chill shoot down their spines. They instinctively faced forward and noticed a towering cloaked man with pointed ears and a horn on his head. They hastily turned around corrected their postures.

"Ahem," coughed Bensen. "We're gonna have ta see some identification, sir."

"Yes, yes," he said with some slithering in his voice. "But first, would you mind telling me more about this dilemma of yours, young lady?"

Sheila awkwardly pointed at herself.

"Uh…me?" she said.

Wait. How long was he standing there? she thought afterwards.

"Why, of course. You've expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. If I may share, lately I've been feeling the same regarding how this monarch goes about its business. It is the world's richest kingdom, but it does nothing short of bragging about a reputation they've made no significant attempt to contribute to outside of public appearances and boisterous chants about how superior they are. It's nothing but a face, a mask it wears to distract the people from its lack of cohesive leadership. Yes, those who focus excessively on appearances often do so to hide their lack of essence.

"The people are blissfully unaware of what's really going on. As long as they're provided with their little trinkets and substances to fill the meaningless void that is their lives, they're merely satisfied with being able to live freely to be ignorant. You'd be surprised how aversive the masses are to data acquisition. But answer me this, young ones. Would it truly be best to cling to dated ideals that hold one back for the sake of comfort?

"Clearly not. Society never advanced by relying on the primitive ways of our ancestors. We build. We thrive. We acquire more knowledge, and in turn more power.

"But recent generations seemed to have found comfort in their present surroundings. Wanting to progress as a people, particularly on the individual level, has increasingly become a dying trend. Even the so-called geniuses of today lack the character, the drive, and the vision needed to truly plunge society forward. All the rich want is to get richer. The brightest minds are either too doubtful or too egotistical to be of use. We praise false idols for the stupidest of reasons. We give into our base desires, justifying the most savage treatment of our fellow man. We put pineapples on our pizza.

"All this is the result of fear. The higher chain of command has made this a world where the dull can thrive and markets murderous behaviors in the name of profit. They've glamorized the lazy, hedonistic, and overall selfish life style. They encourage effort but make it synonymous with suffering because in the end, it will benefit their pompous wallets. Why bother quitting when there's something better waiting at the end of your suffering? Why not tough it out as a testament of your strength? But more often than not, pain and suffering are just. There is no grand prize waiting at the end of the stage and it's too much work to actually try and make something commendable of yourself or go after what you truly want in life. After all, who is really satisfied with working at the helm of somebody else and making then richer?

"The people are afraid to change because they are afraid of the unknown, and the powers that be are afraid of change because they cannot manipulate an educated mind.We've come far since our days spent in caves, young ones. There is no conceivable reason why genius and athleticism aren't the norm. There's more than enough resources to provide for every person on the planet, yet everyday children still die of starvation, naked, confused, and scared. There is more information at our finger tips than in any other age, yet the global IQ drops by the decade."

Under his cloak, he seemed to try his best to make his shaking clenched fist concealable but the sound of ripping fabric betrayed his efforts.

"In the end, this complacent life style will lead to the downfall of us all. Sin has a way of catching up to you, and the same can be said for the global community. We will be swallowed up in a flame of our own petard and then find someone or something to place blame on when we had to opportunity to prevent our destruction the entire time. These are the end of days, young ones. And unless we rapidly achieve a great change, all things are doomed to end in a brimming orange cesspool. And that day will come much sooner than we expect."

For a while, nobody said anything. Because what do you really say when some gargoyle tells yiu "We're all too stupid to live,"?

"Uhhh," said Bensen. "No offense, but you shouldn't talk so much smack about the monarch to its soldiers. We personally don't care, but it can really bring down our morale sometimes. In any case, if you don't have proof of I.D. or a letter from the crown or aren't associated with Freedom Fighters, we can't let you through."

"Is that the true extent to which you can reply to my musings?"

"Not gonna lie, I don't really know what else to say."

"I'm still trying to process that very depressing soliloquy," said Sheila who looked like she had seen the ghost of her favorite pet she accidentally fed bad food.

"Shame…"

The towering figure raised his right hand to reveal a sharp glove.

"But I don't think morale is of much relevance to you anymore."

"Okay…" said Sheila as she slowly drew her sword. "That's…cryptic. Gonna take that as a threat, if you don't mind."

Bensen unhesitatingly aimed the tip of his saber at the towering figure.

"If you don't have any proof that you're associated with the king or the kingdom, you cannot pass. It's just how it is. No hard feelins'."

"I happen to know the king personally," said the towering figure. "As they say, we go way back."

"Wait a second," said Shelia. "You look kind of familiar. Like, I don't think we've met but I think I might have seen you somewhere before."

Bensen squinted. Seconds later, his eyes shot open.

"Hot tamale," he said. "They told us about you in orientation! You're--!!"

But his voice was drowned out in an orange wave.

Knothole Kingdom, Castle Acorn, 08:18

Draped in her night gown, Sally Acorn rose from her bed and comfortably stretched her upper body with a smile. She turned to the left and gazed outside the massive window. Behind it, she could see the beautiful and bustling kingdom that was a mixture of gothic and modern architecture. Even though they appeared like specs, she could only imagine the various feelings the citizens felt after living through another calamity unscathed.

A rainbow school of flickies flew past towards the blue sky. She was by no means haughty but for that moment, she felt a great sense of pride that she felt in the deepest pits of her heart.

Sally exhaled and smiled. She reached for a round, silver device on the side of her pillow. She flicked it open with her thumb and to reveal a mirror. Afterwards, it turned into a green screen with a ":D" text in black pixelated text

"Nicole," she said. "What the day's schedule?"

A cheery feminine voice answered.

"At 9:30, you'll be having breakfast. At 11:00, you'll be served lunch. At 12:30, you will join the King for a video conference between the Meropolis, Joyopolis, and Sheng Fu kingdoms as well as the United Nations regarding Eggman's latest attack and the direction the allied forces should take. From 2:30 to 5:30, you'll be free. At 6:00, dinner with the king. At 7:00, there's the meeting with the Freedom Fighters where you'll brainstorm strategies against Dr. Eggman's latest plot for world domination. At 9:30, your favorite soap opera Busy Teen Princess will come on. At 10:30, you'll have trouble falling asleep as you contemplate how lost you'd be without me. At 10:52, you'll be soundly asleep."

"Ugh, Joyopolis? I don't see how they kept that name with a king like Sharkakahn. What a tool…"

"Indeed. Also, I heard his breath smells like sea water."

"Now that's just uncalled for."

"I calls it like I sees it, princess."

Sally smirked and rolled her eyes. She somehow ended up staring out the window again.

"Just another day in the life of Sally Acorn…"

Sally didn't speak for a while.

"Princess? Is something the matter?"

"Not this time Nicole. Just feeling a little…nostalgic. Life in the kingdom is monotonous. But the citizens are happy. Even if we just bounced back from a major scare, people can still find the strength to get up in the morning and walk outside in spite of the fear. All because they have faith in us. All because of our boring little lives."

"To be fair, some of what you do can be fairly exciting."

"I mean, yeah, being a Freedom Fighter always offers a change of pace. But…I wouldn't give up this repetitive peace for anythinnnn…"

Sally seemed to lose control of her verbal abilities after noticing a massive orange explosion at the edge of the kingdom. The castle was already a few miles away from the main entrance. Anything that looked big from her point of view would be more than a sufficient wake up call.

But an explosion was the very last thing she had hoped, nevermind expected, to see that morning.

"What on Earth…?" she whispered.

As a cloud of gray expanded, Sally did nothing but stare wide eyed from a distance. Her expression seemed somewhere between shocked and sad.

Giant humanoid rock monsters jotted out from out of the smoke. Animated cedar trees soon followed. Homes, shops, and business buildings exploded into fragments and dust. Shards of glass and bricks soared through the air. She could not make out the finer details but the various specks across the kingdom soon sporadically fled in several directions.

"Princess," Nicole said. "I'm receiving a distress signal from Sargent Geoffrey St. John."

Sally continued to stare out the window with her hands covering her mouth.

"Princess? Sally!"

She blinked and shook her head a few times to gather herself.

"I'm sorry. I…it's not important."

"Sally, you received a distress message from St. John."

"Right. Put him on."

An English accented man spoke with a distraught voice.

"Princess, are you alright?" There were several footsteps in the background.

"St. John, what's going on?"

"Walter Naugus is back."

"What?!"

"His, whatever those things are, are spreading rapidly across the kingdom from the main entrance. Citizens are probably being slaughtered by the minute."

Sally's eye brows curved up. All strength seemed to have left her face as her expression dropped.

"Oh no…"

"In any case…"

The large, shiny red doors leading to her room abruptly swung open. In seconds, a dozen Acorn Army soldiers filled the room. Standing in the middle of the entrance, a skunk with a utility belt and a crossbow on his right glove pointed at Sally.

"I want troops surrounding the princess at all times," he said strictly. "Don't let her out of your sight for whatever reason."

Sally covered her chest with her arms and glared at entrance.

"Geoffrey," she said. "What's going on?!"

"Those freaks are moving at an alarming pace. There's a good chance they're on their way to the castle. As such, we're moving you to the private jet and booking it."

"What? No, no! I need to get out there and fight alongside the Freedom Fighters."

"Negative. Your life comes first. King's orders. You can mobilize the Freedom Fighters but you're coming to safety."

"Geoff—"

"We don't have time to argue. You two, grab her."

Two soldiers walked over to Sally. One wrapped his arms around hers as if to take her out on a hot date.

Get it? Hot date? Because the town is on fire?

I'm sorry.

"Right this way princess," he said.

"Hey—!" Sally said with a raised eyebrow. But before she knew it, another guard took her other arm and she was forcefully dragged out of her bed towards the exit. "Can you at least bring me my clothes?!"

"Somebody grab her usual wear," Geoffrey said exasperated.

Five men rushed over to her dresser a little further on the other side of the room.

"Somebody female."

A woman ran passed the embarrassed men to Sally's dresser and after briefly rummaging through it picked out a teal vest, a pair of white gloves with teal wrist rings, short black tights, and a pair of teal boots.

"Bloody perverts," Geoffrey said under his breath. "Roll out."

"Transforme—" one of the guards begun.

"Todd, I swear to God."

Before they reached the door, Sally swung her arms inward. She didn't overpower the guards, they just complied with her. She walked ahead of them and spoke into the silver device in her hand.

"Nicole," she said with a serious look. "Put everyone online."

"Right away," said the digital assistant.

On a green screen, mugshots of Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, Big, Antoine, Bunnie, and Rotor appeared.

"Freedom Fighters. Mobilize in Knothole immediately. We're under attack by Walter Naugus."

Knothole Kingdom, D'Coolette Residence 08:23

Bunnie slowly sat up from her bed and yawned. She rubbed her eyes with the insides of her hands. She turned to her left to see her husband Antoine soundly asleep on his stomach. His mouth was slightly opened and he snored. With a smile, Bunnie lightly rubbed the side of his face with the back of her right hand.

She would be interrupted by the sound of a massive explosion and the shaking of the room. Dust and fragments of the ceiling fell. She grabbed the sheets and jerked her head to the window.

"WHAT IN TARNATION—?!" she shouted. She leapt out of bed and ran over to the curtains. She pulled them apart to see a too close gray cloud of smoke rapidly rising behind some buildings. In the distance, she heard the nearby cries of citizens and what sounded like ice cracking. In a huff, she ran back to Antoine and forcefully shook him by the shoulder. "Twan! Twan, we gotta go! The Kingdom's under attack!"

Antoine turned to face her with a smile.

"Oiiiii," he said ecstatically. "Honey, is zhat a saber in your blouse or are you just happy to see me?"

Bunnie squinted.

"…Wha—"

Antoine shot up to a cadence with a blank expression.

"WHAT."

"Antoine, something's attacking Knothole! We gotta do something!"

"Mon Diu," he said as he whipped of his covers and jumped out of the bed. "Is zhere any word from Sally?"

"Not yet," said Bunnie as she slipped into a pink leotard. "But in any case, we gotta skedaddle. Citizens need our help."

"Of course," said Antoine while putting on a pair of red boots. "At once." He quickly slipped a pair of white gloves and wrapped a white sash across his shoulder blade and fasted his belt. He crouched down on all fours and looked under the bed. "Uhhh, where is my saber?"

"Check the bathroom. You were 'sharpening' it last night."

"What? But I was not—I mean, yes, zhat is zhe only zhing zhat happened in the bathroom last night."

As Bunnie tightened her leotard, Antoine sprinted to the bathroom. He returned with a gold hilt sticking from a green sheath. Sally's voice came from his right wrist and Bunnie's left.

"Freedom Fighters," she said. "Mobilize in Knothole immediately. We're under attack by Walter Naugus."

"Way ahead of you, Sal!" said Bunnie into her wrist.

"Oh, dear!" said Cream over the com.

"Okay," said Big.

"Ohhhhhhh, Sonic…" said Amy in a drowsy voice.

Bunnie raised and eye brow but a moment later shook her head.

"I'm done with sleepy heads for the day," she said before turning to Antoine. "C'mon hon! We're outta here like an elephant at a mice convention!"

"Oi, oi," said Antoine. "You should not reinforce zhe stereotypes, mon cheri."

Bunnie ran to the window and lifted it open. She grabbed Antoine's hand with her mechanical left hand and jumped into the air. Soon, Antoine came back to shut the window before running off.

Central City, Amy Rose's Apartment, 08:25

Beneath a pink sheet on a heart shaped bed, a tiny mass wriggled about. As she tightly hugged a pillow with a famous blue hedgehog's face on it, Amy Rose wore a content smile. She gently rubbed her cheek against the stitched image of her one and only.

"Ohhhhhh~ Sonic," she whispered ecstatically. "I love it when you ignore me...Being too available is a huge turn off."

As if in response, a familiar, and bossy, voice echoed from underneath her pillow.

"Freedom Fighters," it said, slightly muffled. "Mobilize in Knothole immediately. We're under attack by Walter Naugus."

"Way ahead of you, Sally!" said Bunnie.

"Okay," said Big.

"Oh, dear!" said Cream.

"Ohhhhhhh, Sonic…" said Amy in a drowsy voice.

"…Ummm, A-Amy?" said Sally nervously.

"Soooooonnnnic…"

"Amy..."

"Ohhhhhhh, Sonnnnnic! Penetrate me with your emotional and literal distance!"

"AMY."

"Oh, nooooofff—!"

Amy's eyes shot open and with a yelp, she fell off her bed. During the fall, she brushed against the side of her counter which caused an unhealthy amount of Sonic the Hedgehog related merchandise (games, comics, toys etc.) to pile drive her into the carpet.

She rose from the pit of fan merchandise like a zombie rising from its grave and brought her wrist to her lips.

"S-Sally…! I, uhhh… *cough* *ahem* totally wasn't dreaming about Sonic leaving an empty yet alluring void in my life."

"…Honey, we both know you're lying but that's not important right now. Walter Naugus is attacking Knothole with an army of golems and tree monsters."

"What?!"

"That's why I said. The Freedom Fighters are needed but Daddy wants me out of the kingdom for my safety like I haven't been doing this for a decade."

"...I didn't hear Sonic say anything. And he always has something to say."

"This call was sent out to all the Freedom Fighters and that bum hasn't answered. His unavailability is both highly frustrating and attractive."

"Right?"

"Tails hasn't responded either. I don't know what happened but we can't focus on that right now. Get over here ASAP."

"On it."

Afterwards, Sally's picture disappeared from the screen on Amy's communicator. She brought it closer to her lips.

"Call: Sonic."

Christmas Island, Sonic's Borrow, 08:28

Sonic slouched on a coach with his limbs limply spread. A noise came from his wrist.

"Sonic!" said Amy. "Are you there?!"

With a slightly irritated look and a low grumbling, Sonic turned to the inside of the couch.

"Sonic, answer me! This is not the right time to be mysterious!"

At that point, Sonic began to loudly snore.

"Sonic, Knothole's under attack by Walter Naugus and we could really use your help in saving citizens and fighting him and STOP IGNORING ME AND SAY SOMETHING ALREADY!!"

"…hmmmm," Sonic said blissfully as he turned up. "Can't annoy me in my dreams, Amy…zzzzzz…"

"SONNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!!!"

Central City, Amy Rose's Apartment, 08:29

"Ughhhhh!" Amy groaned with an irritated look. As she sat in a pile of Sonic the Hedgehog merchandise, she placed her index finger under her chin and looked to the side.

Okay, so there goes my ride, she thought. He's probably asleep. We did get home awfully late... Amy folded her arms and sighed. And here I was hoping he'd carry me in his arms as we heroically stormed into the sea of battle. Maybe next terrorist attack.

Amy unfolded her arms and spoke into her wrist.

"Call: Tails."

A second later, a beeping noise rang and a message appeared across the com device.

"'Unavailable?' Is Sonic finally rubbing off on him?"

She then narrowed her eyes.

But that's odd. Neither Sonic or Tails are answering. And they'd be the first ones to reply. Sonic's not enough of a jerk to ignore a distress call and reaching Tails is out of the question for some reason. Him losing his com device or just leaving it off is also unlikely.

Amy stood up from her fan wreckage and opened her drawer. She grabbed her PJs by from the back and yanked them off from the top.

Something must have happened to him... If Naugus is working with Eggman like we thought, and with Tails off the grid all of a sudden, then it would stand to say that Eggman sent someone over to deal with him! Amy bit into her nails with a worried expression. Oh, no…I hope he's alright...

She slipped into her trademark red blouse.

That's just awful! Now, they're attacking us in our homes?!

She paused for a moment and placed the side of her index finger on her chin

But…why Tails? And why not anyone else? Aside from him being a genius, he's not an especially dangerous member of the team. Sending a hit squad to Knothole would be a lost cause unless it's an army or ninjas or an army of ninjas. So that leaves Sally, Antoine, Bunnie, and Rotor out of the equation. He knows where Cream, Big, and I live too…

She put on her head band, and dashed out of her room.

All this falls into messing with Sonic. That in mind, the motive behind this plan is a lot clearer. In other words, those slimeballs attacked Tails just to keep my guy busy.

Amy ran over to the front door and slipped her feet into her boots. She kicked the tip of them into the ground to tighten them and flung open the door.

So, they want to keep Sonic away from Knothole for the time being. He's the biggest threat to them, so it makes sense if they want to just mess things up for everyone. But he's also a major player in the Freedom Fighters. Without him, our effectiveness goes down significantly.

With her arms dangling behind her, Amy leaned forward and dashed down the sidewalk at high speed, kicking up a trail of dust barely keeping up with her. She casually side stepped into the street and she zipped past several cars.

Objectively, that would just make things harder for us. I don't know the specifics but if they're just generic monster henchmen, Sonic could probably mow down half of those goons by himself in record timing. But the rest of us aren't slouches. That wouldn't out of our range, not by a large margin. I can't see much reason for keeping him busy besides upping the difficulty.

While cruising down the street and swerving around cars a few hundred miles shy of Mach 1, anxiety weld up in the pit of Amy's stomach.

I…don't know enough about Naugus to compare him to Sonic, but Sally says he can only be beaten by light magic. Is it because he's just that powerful that it takes a major crutch to beat him…or is he invincible otherwise?

Amy realized she was looking down at the road for a while and with a gasp quickly swung her head up. A truck was in the middle of crossing an intersection. If she slid to a stop, it was very likely that she would end up directly in its path and be punted like a football during kickoff. She spun jumped in the space between the back of the truck and the cargo it carried and continued her trek.

In any case, all this stress isn't helping. They just know that Sonic would kick Naugus' bald, horny butt three ways to Sunday! But that shouldn't matter.

In a small dispersion of smoke, a large, red and yellow hammer appeared in Amy's right hand.

Sonic's not the only one who can kick a little butt.

Knothole Kingdom, Behind Castle Acorn, 08:34

Sally closed her silver handheld and lazily dangled her arm at her side. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey peered around the side of a cedar tree.

"We're clear!" he said. "Double time! Go, go, go!"

Afterwards, he ran with a dozen Acorn guards and Sally across a runway leading to a large, silver jet with an Acorn symbol on its side. He reached into a pocket on his utility belt and pulled a pair of what looked like car keys attached to a rectangular device with two square buttons on it. With his thumb, he aimed them at the plane and pressed button one of the buttons. The plane made a double beep noise and a door from underneath it slowly moved towards the ground.

Geoffrey swiftly turned around and flicked the keys to a nearby guard (orange duck, male) who fumbled with it before awkwardly catching it at the last moment.

"Take the princess to Soleanna until things smooth over. There's a communication device aboard the plane on the driver's dashboard. Use it to contact the Duke ahead of time and inform him of the situation."

Sally whipped her head around and stared at Geoffrey with a disgusted look like he had spiders coming out of his eyes and ears.

"Soleanna?!" she said, confused and surprised. "That's almost half the globe from here! Naugus would be beaten on the way over!"

"You don't know that and you're aware of how standard safety procedures go, princess. The crown and their next in line take priority over all else, even its citizens."

"The citizens take priority. Otherwise, what's the point?"

Geoffrey sighed, rolled his eyes, turned in the opposite direction and began to walk.

"I'm not discussing this any further. Nobody has time to be this repetitive. Melvin, secure her seat extra tight."

"Do you mind explaining why my father isn't here?"

Geoffrey didn't make it past his first stride before he stopped moving.

"You said it yourself. The safety of the crown takes priority. And yet, the crown is nowhere to be seen."

Melvin spoke from the side.

"Princess," he said, worried as he reached out to her again. "We reeeeeeally should be goi—"

Sally turned to him with an aggressive scowl.

"Do not. Touch me."

Melvin raised his hands and slowly backed away. Afterwards, Sally faced Geoffrey.

"The first thing you should have done was secure my daddy. Yet, you ran in the opposite direction of his chambers and were just about to send me on around the world by myself. You say you're following simple safety procedures but you're ignoring the most crucial element surrounding it. The king himself."

Geoffrey turned his head and peered at Sally out of the corner of his eye. She shot back with vicious indifference in her eyes.

"There are several implications behind what you're doing and they all end in treason. The consequences for such an act of rebellion towards the most affluent kingdom on the planet will most assuredly affect you for the rest of your life. But I digress. I think we both know what really went down."

Sally raised her arm up high and dramatically swung it down to point at Geoffrey. One could almost see the "Woosh!" sound effect in white lettering. It was really cool. You should have been there.

"Your king, my father, is risking his own life to protect his people. He's breaking rules that have been passed down for generations and you're going along with it."

"In case you're interested, half of those people are probably dying right now because you're holding me up."

"What you're doing doesn't make any sense."

"I'm just following orders. But in the event that he perishes—"

"He won't."

"—his next of line will receive the crown."

"But if that's so, it would make more sense to bring us both along. And in any case, it would make more sense to leave us both behind. My father has access to the Sword of Acorn is, which is our best, if not our only shot at beating Naugus, and he knows how to use it. Combine that with his experience and training in tacticiacal affairs with one of the world's most powerful armies at his helm alongside his daughter who I heard knows a thing or two about the art of war and her own mini army at her disposal."

Sally narrowed her gaze. Her tone was clearly bitter and belligerent.

"Geoffrey, you have no reason to send me off."

The militant skunk turned to face the princess.

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you," he said without hesitation. "But if it will truly calm your britches, the king just wants to settle the score."

Sally's lips slightly parted.

"…What?" she said almost in a whisper. "What do you mean?"

"It's exactly as I've said. Walter is a former associate gone rogue and has an extensive knowledge on top secret information. Your father only seeks a book ends to this meaningless squabble."

"You mean you left my daddy alone just so he can take his stupid revenge?! What is wrong with you?!"

"As much as that truly hurts, I can't do anything about it. He's a passionate man in power. Nothing I tell him would supersede that. Naugus won't stop until his ideals are realized and he's powerful enough to make them come true. These are ambitions men with an unquenchable thirst to fulfil their opposing desires. It's an immovable object versus an unstoppable force. The only thing your father is guilty of here is not wanting his only daughter to get caught up in the crossfire."

"…I really wish you'd stop using gender like it's something other than just that."

"Yeah, that's not what I did…Princess, give up. You've lost this argument and you know it. I've only humored you this long because I know you'd do something reckless unless you got the full scoop. That, and I have enough faith in the army to do the right thing in my absence, just like you should. This is not up for debate. This is a direct order from the king to you. Not only as your superior, but as your father. Now, get your royal butt, on that private plane, and get the hell out of here."

Afterwards, Geoffrey swung around and sprinted towards a bunch of cedar trees. He disappeared within the forest in seconds.

For a while, Sally did nothing but gawk at where Geoffrey stood. As much as she didn't' want to acknowledge, she felt a sense of defeat and that left her a bit spiteful and unsure of how to react.

A red beaver walked over to her and gently grabbed her by the forearm.

"Princess," he said. "We really should be going."

"Fine," she said. "And I can walk myself, thank you very much."

"Of course, m'lady."

Melvin let go of her and the two hurried to the entryway of the plane. Unbeknownst to the non-suspecting, there was a glimmer within Sally's eyes.

While dashing through the patch of cedar trees, Geoffrey pressed a button on the side of his wrist communicator.

"Hershey, what's it look like out there?"

A serious feminine voice responded.

"Just your typical stick and stone goons," she said without much emotion. "They're not showing any signs of intellect. And other than their movement patterns are hit, run, repeat. Basic and repetitive. They move slowly but attack hard and at random intervals. But strike them hard enough and they'll return to mother nature where they belong. I've got eyes and ears telling me they're spreading across the kingdom from the entrance but they haven't reached the center that marks the halfway point to the castle. Over."

"Give the command. Send 10 platoons to Knothole's equator and spread them out in every direction. Have them cover the most amount of ground. Over."

"But, Geoffr…I mean sir, that's not even half of the army. Over."

"From what you described, they're just cannon fodder. Recognize their patterns, hit them enough times and they fall. If the Freedom Fighters can do this by the dozens, there's no reason the world's wealthiest, most highly trained army can't. That, and…"

Geoffrey paused for dramatic effect.

"We're going to need the rest. Over."


End file.
